All I Do is Hope
by Living Masquerade
Summary: When Hermione goes back to work a year after Ron's death to provide for herself and her daughter, she did not expect to find Draco Malfoy working there as well. And she certainly did not expect her daughter to become his son's best friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**For those of you reading my other story "Ignite Your Bones" don't worry, I have that story finished and will be posting the end of the story in the coming weeks.**

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**Tuesday September 19, 2006**

A lot had happened to Hermione Granger-Weasley in the eight years that had passed since the final battle. And today, her twenty seventh birthday, seemed to be a great day of reflection on those last eight years.

Shortly after the Final Battle in May of 1998, Hermione and Ron had committed themselves in marriage following the high of emotions after surviving the battle. In any other circumstance, Hermione was sure that she would have drawn out her relationship with Ron for years before actually marrying him. But instead, caught up in the passion the near death experiences had provided, they married only months later. Her reasoning-of course- had been that they already knew each other so well anyway.

Of course the friendship relationship they had shared up until that point could only go so far in preparing the two of them for living together as a married couple. The first year had been a challenge, but after the initial hump they had settled into married life quite nicely. However, he was Ronald Weasley, so there were arguments—rather intense ones—but those were easily resolved with fantastic make up sex.

Because they were Ron and Hermione they had a lot of arguments, and make up sex, which naturally led to Hermione's unplanned pregnancy. However, the two parents couldn't have been happier when Rose Weasley was delivered on May 27, 2002. Everyone delighted over how Rose looked all the time; she was a perfect combination of the two of them. Instead of the startling red of some of the other Weasleys, Rose had dark auburn hair similar to that of her Aunt Ginny's, and was infused with similar body as her mother's.

Hermione and Ron had settled into their roles as parents well. Hermione had been working at a wizarding law firm before her pregnancy, but after Rose's birth had decided to take a few years off to be a stay at home mom. Ron was working for the ministry as an auror at the time, and he brought home enough money for them to live comfortably.

They had been living comfortably, until January of last year when Ron had been killed in an accident on the job. There was no foul play involved, but instead he had been the victim of a rebounded practice curse that had killed him instantly. Hermione could only be thankful that he hadn't suffered.

His death had left an empty hole in Hermione. She mourned not only for the loss of her husband and lover, but for her best friend and the Father of her daughter. Most of 2005 had been spent trying to put her life back together with the help of Harry and Ginny. They had gotten her through the worst of it, with the help of the rest of the Weasley clan and Hermione's parents.

Even after she was past the initial mourning, there was still a hole left in her life. Not just the hole Ron had left behind, but another one. She missed her job, and though she loved her daughter she knew that she was not in a position to not work anymore. However, the law firm she had worked for before Rose's birth had been joined with that of another firm and all of the partners she had worked with had retired save one, who Hermione hoped remembered her.

So that was how she found herself on the morning of her twenty seventh birthday, walking into the office building where the firm was housed, hoping beyond hope that Mr. Larsen remembered her from her days in the old firm before her pregnancy. She had worked with him a few times, but it had been the much older Mr. Horton that had declared her a personal favorite of his. Too bad he was retired.

She needed this job badly. She had been surviving on savings and a job she had taken at a local muggle library since Ron's death, but she and Rose needed a much better income to continue the life they had been living while Ron was still alive.

"Hermione Granger-Weasley, here for the interview." Hermione said to the secretary that sat behind the large mahogany desk.

The secretary looked up at her curiously before glancing back down at the piece of parchment before her.

"Yes, the partners are waiting for you in the conference room. Go down this hall and it's the first door on your right."

With a smile and a thank you, Hermione headed down the hall as the secretary had indicated. The office was rather nice, mahogany dominating the space with beige walls, which gave it a very masculine feel, and that made sense given that she was sure all of the partners and other lawyers in the firm were men. It was a pity she hadn't finished her training, otherwise she would be here for a position as a lawyer instead of the law librarian they were looking for to do research.

Sure enough, upon her entrance into the conference room she was greeted by the visages of three older men, one of which happened to be Mr. Larsen who seemed to recognize her immediately.

"Mrs. Weasley, so sorry to hear about your husband, please sit down." Mr. Larsen greeted with a small smile that was echoed by that of the other two partners. "Gentlemen, Hermione worked at the firm before the merger. Excellent researcher, best one we had; we were sorry to see her go."

"And why, may I ask, did you leave Mrs. Weasley?" One of the other partners asked.

"I wanted to be able to stay at home with my daughter, Rose." Hermione replied honestly after she had taken a seat and smoothed down her black skirt.

"Hermione let me introduce you to these other two. That is Harold Greengrass," Mr. Larsen said gesturing to the man who had asked the last question, "and that is Jacob Wood."

Mr. Wood chuckled at the look of recognition Hermione gave him and confirmed, as his looks suggested that, "Oliver is my son."

"He looks just like you." Hermione smiled.

Mr. Wood nodded his head with a smile, "Tell me, Mrs. Weasley, how old is your daughter now?"

"She turned four in May."

"You've spent every day with her for four years correct?" Mr. Greengrass asked to which Hermione nodded her head, prompting his next question, "Then are you going to be able to come back to work on a full time basis?"

Hermione nodded, "She's at an age where she needs to be socialized and I am ready to cut the motherly strings a tiny bit. My mother in law will be watching her through the day with her cousins, so I have no worries about her being there at all."

"Excellent." Mr. Larsen smiled. "Now, before you left the firm years ago you talked of your interest in finishing your studies to become a lawyer, is that still something you're interested in now?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, given your references and what we all know about you, we are ready to hire you as our law librarian. However, we are also willing to work with you and your desire to finish your studies."

Hermione couldn't hold back the smile that spread across her face, "That would be great, sir."

"Good. I'm sure you can find a program that can work around your schedule, and we are more than willing to work your hours around such a program because we feel that as a lawyer you would be an excellent resource for this firm." Mr. Wood smiled.

"Now, how do you feel about starting today?" Mr. Larsen asked.

"Well, it is my birthday…"

"Is it? Well Happy Birthday!" Mr. Larsen said.

The other two wished her a Happy Birthday then looked at her expectantly. Initially she had been hoping to enjoy her birthday by going shopping after the interview. But, after all of the excellent things these three had just told her, she couldn't very well turn down a day of work could she?

"Well, what's my first order of business?"

Xxx

Draco Malfoy was not having a good day. The source of his problems could be explained by what had happened to him immediately following the Final Battle. After he and his parents had run away from the battle, they had hid out in the Manor for a few weeks before aurors came knocking at their door. All three were put up on trial, but only Lucius had been sent to Azkaban. His mother had been saved by the testimony of Harry bloody Potter himself and he had been saved by Mr. Greengrass. As his lawyer, Harold, had pleaded that Draco had been a minor when he had taken the dark mark and therefore was not accountable for his crimes. The only thing that saved him for crimes committed after his seventeenth birthday was the testimony of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger who had testified about their time in Malfoy Manor, when he hadn't said a word to his aunt to confirm her suspicions.

After Lucius had been sent to Azkaban on a life sentence, he and his mother settled into their lives as social outcasts. It suited him just fine, the solitude, but his mother had hated it. Fortunately for her, during Draco's trials she had become close to Harold's wife, Beatrice, and before Draco knew it he was engaged to their daughter Astoria. He felt as if he had no choice to consent, given all that Harold had done for him and given how happy the prospect made his mother. So, that was how he found himself married to Astoria Greengrass in 2000.

Their marriage was awkward. Sex was awkward, interaction was awkward, and just living together was awkward. They didn't love each other; they didn't even know each other! Yet, somehow despite the awkwardness Astoria had gotten pregnant and they had welcomed Scorpius August 7 of 2003. After that, they never had sex again. And only a year ago Astoria had taken off for parts unknown, leaving her son behind with her husband. It had taken months to track her down, but when he did he had her sign the divorce papers from the bed she shared with her Italian lover.

Draco didn't care. But he did care about how her decisions affected his son's life. He loved Scorpius and now that he was his sole care taker, he would do anything to protect him. Including protecting him from his mother. His greatest fear was that one day she would come back and try to take Scorpius away from him after years of abandonment. Thankfully, Harold and Beatrice still continued to play a large role in Scorpius' life and had disowned their daughter for her actions. He was sure that if his greatest fear did happen, they would back him up and make sure Astoria never saw Scorpius again.

But being a single Father was not easy. Scorpius had been in an absolutely horrid mood this morning, which had set the bar for Draco's entire day. Somehow he had managed to get Scorpius to his day care, but he had not managed to avoid the oatmeal his three year old had been slinging around, and had arrived at work with oatmeal smeared on the front of his dress robes. And before he could change into the spare he kept in his office, Zabini had seen, damn him.

And speak of the devil; Blaise waltzed into his office with a wide grin on his face, pulling Draco out of his musings.

"I've got news that is going to make your day even better, Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes, "What is it?"

The two of them had worked together for years now. After his marriage to Astoria in 2000, Draco had gone through his studies to become a lawyer and when he finished Harold immediately hired him into the firm. Zabini had been hired only a few months after him and since then they had become pretty good friends. Of course they had known each other from their Hogwarts days in Slytherin house, but they certainly had not been good friends then. Now, somehow, they were.

"You will not believe who our new law librarian is." Blaise chuckled delightedly.

"Just spit it out, Zabini."

"Hermione Granger…well Weasley, but her husband died didn't he? Is it still right to call her Mrs. Weasley then?"

Draco ignored his question and instead focused on what that answer had told him. Hermione bloody Granger was now an employee at the firm? Could his day get any worse at this point?

"She used to work at Larsen's firm before the merger, and it looks like she's going to be training to be a lawyer in the firm here too."

"This day just keeps getting better and better."

"Cheer up Draco," Blaise chuckled, "I haven't told you the best news yet."

"Oh Merlin, I don't even want to know."

"Yes you do." Blaise grinned evilly. "Mrs. Weasley or whatever is the politically correct thing to call her now, is working with you starting today on your research for the Haversham case!"

Today was just not his day.

"Get the hell out of my office right now, Zabini."

"Okay okay." Blaise laughed, and headed for the door.

"By the way, Blaise. Just because her husband is dead doesn't mean she automatically loses his last name. The politically correct thing to call her is whatever she asks you to."

Blaise grinned in reply before leaving his office, shutting the door with a soft click behind him. Draco simply shook his head and returned his attention to the piece of parchment he had been attempting to read before Blaise had barged in with this news.

Draco's mind was still processing the fact that he would be working with Granger. Unbelievable, what would happen next?

He realized that was the wrong thing to think when seconds later there was a hesitant knock at his door. When he got up and opened it, he noticed that Hermione Granger looked just about as thrilled to be working with him as he was her.

"Congratulations on the job." He said as he turned to take his seat back behind his desk.

"Thanks. I didn't realize you worked here."

Draco just nodded as she hesitantly took one of the seats in front of his desk.

"Mr. Larsen told me I would be helping you with your research for the Haversham case. So, whatever you need just let me know and I'll be on my way to the library."

Glad to be on professional issues, Draco eagerly handed her the parchment he had made his research list on. The Haversham case was a case of property dating way back, so the research was going to be extensive. He had to admit; he was thankful the firm had finally hired someone competent enough to do the research for him. The last guy had been a complete idiot. However, from what he remembered of Hermione, he knew that Hogwart's favorite bookworm would get the job done right.

"I realize that list is going to take a few days. Do whatever you can today; I am still working on closing out another case today, so we have time. The court date isn't until mid October."

As Hermione looked over his list, he took the opportunity to look over her. The last time he had seen her up close had been at his trials years ago. Since then he had seen her at a distance in Diagon Alley, but never up close. She had grown into a woman since the trials; her hair, which had been bushy and unmanageable, was now mostly tamed in long loose curls that hung down her back. Today she was wearing a professional black pencil skirt, with a plain white blouse, but her heels caught his attention. He certainly was not expecting for Granger to be wearing black peep toed four inch heels. He imagined her in flats, probably from years of seeing her in her Mary Jane's back at school.

He had to admit though; they made her legs look fantastic. She had grown into an attractive woman, no matter how much it pained him to admit that to himself.

Just as he was about to take an assessment of the assets motherhood had left Granger with, the door to his office burst open and an irate looking nursery school teacher stood glaring down at him holding his three year old son by the hand. A quick glance at his son's guilty expression was enough for Draco to know that he had lost yet another day care for his son.

"Mr. Malfoy, your son is out of control. We have warned you before that if his behavior didn't improve that he was no longer welcomed at Mother Gooses' nursery school."

Draco sighed, "What did he do now?"

The lady matched his sigh, "All of the children experience accidental magic at the day care, Mr. Malfoy. But your son takes it to the next level. It is as if he is deliberately directing his magic at some of his classmates. Today was the final straw, and I'll have to ask that you find another day care for Scorpius."

With that said, the lady released Scorpius' hand and turned on her heel and left. Draco held out a hand to his son and Scorpius immediately ran up to his father. Scorpius looked unsure as to whether or not he was allowed up on his Father's lap at the moment given what had just happened, but Draco decided the matter for him and lifted him up and onto his lap. Wrapping an arm around him, Draco looked down into his son's grey eyes and tried to give him one of the sternest looks he could. While he was angry at Scorpius for yet again getting himself kicked out of a day care, he also was immensely pleased that his son was powerful enough to engage these deliberate magical attacks.

"Scorpius, this is the third time you've been kicked out of day care. How am I supposed to do my work if I don't have someone to watch you during the day?"

Scorpius said nothing and just stared back up at him guiltily.

"Listen, you can't use your magic against other people, Scorpius. It isn't nice. You don't want to be branded a bad boy do you?"

Scorpius shook his head and Draco nodded, "No you don't, and I don't want a bad boy as my son. That's why you're going to hang out here today while I try to find a new day care for you. Somewhere where the teachers and the other kids aren't as mean. That Harrison kid was picking on you, wasn't he?"

Scorpius nodded.

"Alright, that's what I thought." Draco nodded and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and opened a desk drawer to the emergency box of crayons he kept there. Scooting closer to the desk with Scorpius in his lap, he handed his son a crayon and gestured that he color on the parchment for the moment.

"Um…I think I'll head to the library now." Hermione said awkwardly from her position in the chair. She had been privy to the entire drama and had felt awkward the entire time. However, now had been the first chance to escape.

"You have a daughter don't you Granger?" Draco asked curiously as Hermione stood up.

Hermione nodded.

"Where have you put her in for day care?"

"My mother in law babysits all my nieces and nephews as well as a few other kids with the help of some of my sisters in law."

"So, she takes non-Weasleys?"

Hermione laughed out loud at what he was potentially proposing. Was Draco Malfoy, the high and mighty pureblood, that had mocked the Weasleys for years and called them blood traitors actually thinking of entrusting his son willingly into the Weasley's care?

"Are you serious right now?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"Granger, I am desperate right now. Isn't it obvious? There is no one else able to watch Scorpius through the day. My mother is in France and his maternal Grandfather works here with us and his other Grandmother is not capable of handling a high energy boy all day."

Hermione sighed, "Well, I can tell Mrs. Weasley about you, but she will have to decide if she is willing to take your son on and she'll have to contact you."

"Thank you, Granger, really."

Hermione nodded, "Don't thank me yet. Well, I'm off to start research. I'll report back to you at four thirty with what I've found."


	2. Chapter 2

**Friday September 22, 2006**

The days before had gone by in a flash of research and since she had been holed up in the library for most of the day she had not had the opportunity to see Draco and tell him that she had spoken to Molly Weasley about Scorpius becoming one of her charges the night before.

However, upon arriving at the burrow via floo with Rose in hand she saw that she needn't say anything to Draco since he was currently sitting in the living room, Scorpius beside him as he talked to Molly about his son and his schedule.

"Good morning Hermione, Rose." Mrs. Weasley smiled as they exited the floo.

"Good morning, Molly." Hermione replied as Rose ran to give her Grandmother a hug. When she pulled away she turned her gaze on the blond boy on the couch, looking him over and assessing as he stared back at her unblinkingly.

"Who is that, Gramma?" Rose asked, turning her inquisitive brown eyes on Molly.

"Rose, this is Scorpius. Why don't you take him out back to where the rest of the kids are? I'll be out in a jiff after I talk to Scorpius' daddy."

Rose nodded and held out a hand to Scorpius and urged, "Come on."

Scorpius stared at her for a minute, gave Draco a quick hug, and jumped off the couch to take Rose's hand. The three adults watched as the red head and the blond walked down the hall to the kitchen and waited until the back door shut before turning their attention back to one another.

"Thank you again Mrs. Weasley for understanding." Draco stated.

"I think Scorpius will do well here; don't worry about him. We deal with worse situations between siblings and cousins every day, so we won't be kicking your son out for accidental magic. He will be punished though if he does so with intent as you explained."

"Understood."

Molly smiled, "Well, then if you don't mind me I better get out back and help Angelina and Fleur."

Once Molly was gone, Draco and Hermione were left alone in the burrow's living room, gazing at each other curiously.

"Thank you for telling her about my situation." Draco said suddenly.

"Think nothing of it; Molly is excellent with children. It sounds like he could benefit from her."

Draco chuckled, "Yes, he could. Well, I'll see you at work then."

Hermione didn't wait to watch him floo away, instead she headed out back to drop off Rose's bag, which she still held in her hand. After waving goodbye to her daughter, Hermione headed back inside and flooed to the office.

Xxx

After being holed up doing research all day, Hermione was ready to get out of the office and head home after gathering Rose from the burrow. Thankfully, today was Friday so that meant that the weekend was hers to enjoy. She and Rose were having a mother daughter day on Saturday, followed by a birthday dinner for her at her parent's house. And Sunday was going to be a day of relaxation before returning to the headache inducing research for this Haversham case.

With that on her mind, she didn't notice the other person headed towards the same fireplace as she was, and nearly would have collided with him, had it not been for him reaching out and steadying her by grasping her upper arms.

Hermione looked up into the grey eyes of Draco Malfoy's and gasped at her idiocy. How could she have been so absorbed as to not notice she was about to walk into someone, especially when that someone was Draco Malfoy?

"Distracted much, Granger?" Draco teased as he stared down into Hermione's flushed face.

Bloody hell, but she looked attractive with her cheeks flushed that color, and her dark brown eyes filled with uncertainty and mortification.

"Sorry, I'll be careful to watch where I'm going from now on." Hermione replied.

"On your way to the burrow to get your daughter?"

Hermione nodded, "Is that where you're headed, to get Scorpius?"

Draco nodded his head, desperately trying to remember what Hermione's daughter's name had been. He felt guilty for some reason that Hermione knew his son's name and he had no idea what her daughter's was. Of course, his son's was a lot more memorable than a lot of other children's names.

"After you, Granger." Draco indicated, waving a hand out before him towards the fireplace.

With a nod of thanks Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder, and stepped into the fireplace. Once she had disappeared in the green flames, Draco grabbed his own handful and flooed to the burrow stepping out of the fireplace behind Hermione.

Most of the children had already been taken home for the day, leaving Rose and Scorpius alone in the living room. However, what had caught Hermione dead in her tracks was the sight the two of them made. Scorpius sat close to Rose's side as she read him one of her favorite picture books. Rose had learned how to read earlier that year and had since loved to read to the younger children at the day care. Apparently Scorpius was no exception, but never before had Hermione seen Rose cuddled with another child that wasn't her cousin before.

Draco also caught sight of their children and stared just as Hermione did at the pair. He had never seen Scorpius be affectionate with any other child period. So to see him cuddling up against Hermione's red headed little girl was a bloody amazing sight.

"I see you've noticed the shining they've taken for one another." Molly said quietly as she walked into the room where Hermione and Draco were still staring at their children.

"I've never seen Scorpius be affectionate with any other children." Draco admitted.

Molly nodded, "Rose took him under her wing immediately. After she introduced him to all of the other children, he stuck by her side all day, and now they are great friends. Amazing isn't it, how kids are completely unaware of their parent's prejudices?"

Draco had the decency to look down in embarrassment at Mrs. Weasley's well aimed comment. The moment between their children was broken, though, as Rose snapped the book shut and looked up to see her Mom there waiting for her. Scorpius also looked up to see his Dad, and after Rose gave Scorpius a hug they both ran to their respective parents.

Draco scooped up Scorpius immediately, holding him close and placing a kiss on his forehead. He was so proud of him at the moment and promised himself that his son would continue to not know blood prejudices for the rest of his life. At twenty six years old, Draco had worked hard to reverse the prejudices he had grown up with. He no longer classified Hermione as a mudblood, but his unease with her now stemmed mostly from the fact that she was one of the golden trio and someone he had treated poorly in his past. He honestly didn't know if she would ever forgive him, even if he tried to apologize, and he knew that he didn't deserve it in the first place. But since they would be working together, he had promised himself to treat her as he would anyone else, and so far he had succeeded. Despite the awkwardness that naturally hung in the air between them.

"Thank you again Mrs. Weasley, I'll see you Monday morning." Draco smiled, still holding Scorpius on his hip.

"You're welcome, Mr. Malfoy. Goodbye Scorpius, be a good boy now!"

Scorpius smiled and waved to Mrs. Weasley before Draco turned and flooed the two of them away from the burrow.

Once they were gone, Hermione turned to Molly.

"I have to admit, I was surprised you accepted having Scorpius here."

Molly glanced down at Rose, who was distracted with another book at the moment, before she replied to Hermione, "Sins of the father shouldn't be placed on the son."

"Do you mean Scorpius or Draco?"

"Both. Draco came to me and apologized for everything he said or did to harm my family and I forgave him. Both Draco and Scorpius need the chance to break away from the rain cloud Lucius Malfoy has placed over their heads, and I'm happy to help with that. That and I could tell that Scorpius would benefit from coming here every day and receiving feminine affection. And after one day, I can already see I made the right decision."

Xxx

After taking Scorpius home for a dinner of his favorites, Waffles and bacon, Draco had decided to further award his good behavior by going to get ice cream. Before going though, he had decided to invite another favorite of Scorpius'—not just for his son, but also for himself.

"Blaise!" Scorpius screeched excitedly as his Uncle Blaise met the two of them outside of the ice cream parlor.

Laughing, Blaise bent down and scooped Scorpius up into his arms. "I hear someone is being rewarded with ice cream for his good behavior today. Who would that be?"

"Me!"

"Of course! We shall buy you a giant scoop of your favorite flavor!"

Sure enough, ten minutes later Scorpius sat frantically licking at his cone, while Draco and Blaise quietly used their spoons to pull their ice cream from their dishes.

"Mrs. Weasley is taking care of your son?" Blaise asked in surprise after Draco had explained exactly why Scorpius deserved the treat.

Draco nodded, "I was desperate, and honestly she is the best pick for Scorpius. She had a good handle on discipline and she, unlike those broads at the other nursery schools, is actually affectionate to all children no matter what."

Blaise chuckled, "Oh, I know she has a firm handle on discipline. Remember those howlers she would send her kids?"

Draco laughed, "How can I forget? Those were some of my favorite days."

"I mean honestly, you know a woman has to be good at discipline when she has seven children, six of which are boys."

"That and I know she means business in protecting them too. Like when she killed my Aunt. Can't say I was sad to hear about that; the crazy bitch."

Blaise nodded solemnly and the three boys continued their ice cream in comfortable silence. That was until Blaise finished his ice cream and decided to ask the next hard hitting question.

"So, how is working with Granger?"

Draco paused with his spoon midway up to his mouth and shot Blaise a look, "She's been researching most of the time. So far she's found me everything I've asked for and more."

Blaise nodded, "I'll be finding out for myself, Greengrass and I are on that nasty Bulsltrode divorce and we need Hermione to do some research into the Bulstrode family."

Draco grimaced, "Good luck with that blood bath."

"Be happy you've got Haversham. It looks like child's play next to dealing with fighting with the Bulstrode family."

Draco had finished his own ice cream by this point and turned his gaze to Scorpius who was covered in chocolate ice cream. With a sigh, Draco took a napkin and proceeded to clean most of the mess up before he took out his wand and preformed a quick cleaning spell on the boy. Once that was done, Draco took the soggy cone from Scorpius, who at this point was half asleep from an ice cream overload, and tossed it into the trash.

"Looks like I need to get him home; see you Monday, Zabini."

Xxx

**Saturday September 23, 2006**

Hermione had been looking forward to her Saturday morning of sleeping in, but with a four year old around, sleeping in extravagantly was never really an option. Sure enough, at eight Rose came barreling into her room and jumped up on the bed, thoroughly waking Hermione up from her pleasant dreams.

"'Morning Mommy!"

"Morning, Rose."

"I'm hungry."

"Of course you are." Hermione chuckled as she rolled out of bed and put on her robe. Just like Ron, Rose could pack food away. Thankfully Hermione had been able to successfully teach her proper eating manners, manners that her father had always seemed to lack.

"Can we have bacon?"

"Yes, and what else? We can't just have bacon."

"We could."

Hermione smiled, "How about pancakes?"

Rose made a face.

"French toast?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, come on you can help me make breakfast."

Starting their mother daughter day off right Hermione and Rose proceeded to make breakfast together. While Hermione did most of the cooking, Rose set out plates and silverware, as well as syrup and some juice at the table.

After their delicious breakfast had been eaten and cleaned up, the two had showered and gotten dressed for their day at Mister Krazy Kanes Kids Playground. Truthfully Hermione would have liked to have gone somewhere else, but she had promised Rose. Mister Krazy Kane's was an indoor fun house for wizarding children. Similar to muggle play areas; it contained a giant pit of balls, tubes to crawl in, and slides galore. And there was a place for parents to sit together, while watching their kids, and commiserating about the struggles of parenthood. However, since Mister Krazy Kane's was literally a magic place, the tubes and slides constantly changed directions, and the ball pits charmed so no kids fell underneath, it was sure to be an exciting day.

Rose was excited for her first trip to the place. After hearing her cousin's James, Albus, and Lily boasting about the place she had wanted to go immediately. Hermione had promised to take her in celebration of her new job and for Rose being such a good girl lately, but she kind of regretted the fact that she hadn't invited one of Rose's cousins or friends to accompany her. On the bright side though, Rose was a friendly girl and probably wouldn't have any trouble making a little friend at Mister Krazy Kane's.

The place was already well populated when Hermione and Rose arrived. After giving Rose the run down on what was expected of her, Hermione took her shoes, and watched as Rose ran off and jumped into the ball pit excitedly. Smiling at her daughter's obvious joy, Hermione headed for the parent area and found a nice cushioned chair to sit in which provided a good view of the entire play area. She spotted Rose immediately and seeing that she was climbing up into the tubes, she turned her attention to the other parents within the area.

Most of them were couples, a lot of them hanging on to younger, crying children, as their older ones ran about in the play area. They seemed to pay no attention to Hermione as she sat there alone and suddenly she wished she had brought a book or something to read. But just then, she saw something out of the corner of her left eye, and turning her head she noticed Draco Malfoy sitting a few seats down, reading the _Daily Prophet_.

Sensing a pair of eyes on him, Draco immediately looked up and locked eyes with Hermione. The two stared at each other for a minute before Hermione hesitantly stood up and moved to sit next to him.

"Looks like single parents aren't too common around here." She stated awkwardly.

Draco nodded, "They're almost exclusionary about it. The first time I brought Scorpius here I tried to talk to some of them but they wanted nothing to do with me."

"Well, there may have been other reasons for that." Hermione pointed out, and then immediately realized that had not been a good thing to say. Embarrassed, Hermione's cheeks flushed and she looked to the floor to avoid Draco's grey eyes.

Instead of the anger she had been expecting he laughed, "True. But I know a couple other single parents who come here and have the same thing happen to them. They're ignoring you, aren't they?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, that was rude of me to say."

Draco shrugged, "You were just speaking the truth, don't worry about it."

Hermione nodded and looked back out into the play area and noticed that Rose and Scorpius had also found each other somewhere in the tubes, for they were now sliding down one of the slides together. Noticing her smile, Draco turned his head in the same direction and couldn't stop a smile from gracing his face at the sight of their children.

"Looks like they're friends." Hermione stated. "Molly said Rose took him under her wing."

Draco nodded, "When I went to put him to bed last night he insisted that I read him the story Rose had read to him earlier. Unfortunately he could only remember something about unicorns so I had no idea what book it could be."

"Probably was _The Unicorn's Horn_, it's one of her favorites."

"I'll have to look for that."

Draco and Hermione enjoyed an hour of comfortable silence together watching their children play together, with the occasional pleasant comment passed which usually referred to something about their children. However, their comfortable silence was broken when as Rose was jumping down out of the ball pit, her foot hit a stray ball and twisting her ankle, she fell to the floor with a scream.

Hermione was up in no time, running over to her daughter, with Draco hot on her heels. Scorpius had jumped out after Rose and joined her on the floor crying even though he wasn't hurt. When the adults reached their children, Hermione immediately started to sooth her daughter, hugging her close before pulling away to inspect her ankle. It was already swelling.

"Oh no; I can't fix this, I'll have to take her to St. Mungo's."

Draco had pulled Scorpius on his lap and quieted his sympathy tears. Looking down at Rose's ankle he noticed that Hermione was very right in her assessment. He knew Granger was brilliant with a wand, but this was something best left to the professionals.

Taking this as his clue to give Hermione some space he stood up with Scorpius in his arms, only to have the boy scream 'No' in his ear. Apparently Scorpius did not want to be separated from Rose. Bending back down he set Scorpius on the floor and watched as his son grabbed one of Rose's hands, holding it in his little one.

"I'll come with you; Scorpius doesn't want to leave her."

"Can you carry her? I think she's too heavy for me now and I don't want to jostle her too much by trying to carry her and at this point I don't think I could concentrate enough to properly levitate her."

Draco nodded and after getting Scorpius to let go of her hand he scooped Rose up carefully into his arms. Hermione grabbed Scorpius' hand and then the four made their way out of Mister Krazy Kane's.


	3. Chapter 3

**Saturday September 23, 2006**

It had been a struggle to get Scorpius away from Rose at St. Mungo's, but after Draco had carefully set Rose down on a bed, he had done his best to get him out of there without causing a scene. There hadn't been time for thank you's, but Hermione had sent him a grateful smile as he and Scorpius were leaving.

Scorpius' care and concern for his new friend was touching, but his temper tantrum was ridiculous. Once home, he sent Scorpius to his room and waited a while before he went inside to talk to him. After explaining that Rose was going to be alright, Scorpius seemed okay to forget the incident and that was a relief to Draco who was just trying to have a relaxing day with his son.

Xxx

Upon seeing their Granddaughter with a wrapped ankle, both of Hermione's parents fell on Rose with hugs and kisses and many questions. Rose had sprained her ankle on the ball, but the healer had done a spell to reduce the swelling, cast a spell to fix most of the damage and given Rose a pain potion to get her through the night. The rest would have to heal naturally; the muggle way as the healer had said with a wink in Hermione's direction. Hermione had had many a sprained ankle in her childhood so she could sympathize with her daughter at the moment.

"She twisted her ankle on a ball from a ball pit."

Hermione's mother, Jean, stood up from fawning over Rose and nodded her head sympathetically. "Those places are bloody dangerous."

"Well, this one was supposed to better than the muggle one given there are charms in place everywhere for the protection of the children." Hermione replied.

"I hope you won't be taking her there again." Jean continued.

Hermione shrugged, "If Rose wants to we will; we can't judge the place on one freak incident. Other than that she had a great time with her new friend."

"New friend huh?" Hermione's father, Albert, grinned down at Rose. "Who's your friend, Rosie?"

"Scorpius."

Albert chuckled, "What a name."

"Scorpius is also a new addition to Molly's day care." Hermione added. "Rose and he took a shining to each other immediately."

"A little boyfriend 'eh?"

"He's a year younger than her, so little does apply. No, you know how Rose is, especially with her younger cousins. She took him under her wing on the first day and they have become attached to each other. Scorpius didn't want to leave her side after she hurt herself."

"How sweet." Jean smiled. "Maybe we'll have to meet little Scorpius if this friendship keeps up. Now, I have a delicious birthday dinner that's all ready to go, so let's move on in to the dining room."

After a delicious dinner and a homemade chocolate birthday cake, Rose and Albert retreated into the living room to play cards, leaving Hermione and Jean in the kitchen to clean up the dishes. Hermione's parents had always been strict that she not take the easy way out when it was discovered she could do magic. Therefore, Hermione didn't mind doing things the muggle way. She found it therapeutic even and continued to do things like cleaning the muggle way even after leaving her parent's house. Ron had always questioned her, but that had not stopped her. So tonight she had no problem drying the dishes her mother handed her and putting them away while the sounds of her Dad's and daughter's laughter drifted out of the living room and into the kitchen.

"How's the new job going?" Jean asked. "Your Father and I were so proud that you were able to get back in."

Hermione smiled, "It's going well. The partners are even encouraging me to finish my studies to become a lawyer at the firm."

"They're willing to work your schedule around it?"

"Yes, I've been looking for programs and there is one starting after New Year's at nights."

"How much of a time commitment is it?"

"Well, wizarding law is different than muggle obviously, so the training is different as well. I've already completed part of it, so I would only need to take the one term from January to June. They would be night classes five days a week."

"What about Rose?"

"The classes start at eight, and Rose's bed time is seven anyway. If I can just get someone to come to the house while she is sleeping from seven to ten I would be set and I wouldn't miss out on any time with her."

"Your Father and I might be able to help with some of that, but I'm afraid we couldn't do all five nights even between the two of us."

Hermione smiled, "Thanks Mom, whatever you two can do is perfect. I can always ask Molly and Arthur to help out too. Maybe find enough people so that each of you would only have to do it once a week."

"Well, just let us know. I will tell you now that your Father works late on Mondays so he wouldn't be able to do that. The best night for him would be Tuesday, and Wednesday for me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After that discussion with her Mother, Hermione was feeling much better about the prospect of finishing her studies to become a lawyer. In fact, she was a little put off that she was going to have to wait until January before the classes even started.

After another hour spent at her parent's house playing a game of cards, Hermione and Rose finally made their way home for the night. All in all, it had been a good mother daughter day, even if it had resulted in injury for Rose. She was tough though, she would bounce back quickly.

Xxx

**Monday September 25, 2006**

As soon as Hermione and Rose stepped out of the fireplace of the burrow, Scorpius Malfoy ran to Rose and threw his arms around her. It was adorable. All of the women in the vicinity: Molly, Angelina, Fleur, and Hermione were cooing at the pair and watched as they separated and then ran off to the living room together where the other kids were playing.

"What was that about?" Angelina asked with a chuckle. "He acted as if he hadn't seen her for years."

Molly and Fleur nodded their heads in agreement and Hermione replied, "We ran into Scorpius and his Father at Mister Krazy Kane's place and Rose sprained her ankle. Scorpius didn't want to leave her and threw a fit when we did have to separate them. So please watch out for her ankle today; it's wrapped up."

"I thought I noticed a bit of a limp." Molly nodded. "What happened?"

"Came down out of the ball pit onto one of the balls."

"Ouch." Angelina groaned. "I've done that before."

"Me too." Hermione nodded.

When Hermione arrived at the office a few minutes later Blaise Zabini was waiting for her with a file in hand.

"Good morning Mrs. Weasley." He greeted pleasantly. "I'm stealing you from Draco's service today."

"Good morning, what can I help you with?"

Blaise extended the folder to her, "I've got the Bulstrode divorce case coming up. We need you to dig up whatever you can on the ancient marriage rituals of the Bulstrode family, especially the things that are illegal now."

"Is this Millicent Bulstrode?"

Blaise nodded, "Married some poor senseless pureblood from France who we're representing. The poor bastard even had to take her last name."

"Alright, I'll find what I can."

"Thank you."

With the Bulstrode file in her hand, Hermione headed down to the library with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had a feeling that she was not going to like what she was about to find about this topic. At this point she would much rather be researching more of the Haversham case which dealt with land and nothing more—certainly not things whose illustrated drawings made her almost vomit.

Just as she was gagging after studying a crude illustration a bit too closely, Draco Malfoy walked up to her table where she had set all the books she found out, and had been taking notes until her stomach had started churning.

"You okay there Granger?"

"No, not really." She replied honestly, as Draco peered down at the parchment.

"Ugh! Nasty!"

"Yeah, you should read the description."

"Nope. I'm good." Draco replied, a hand over his mouth. "Is this for that Bulstrode case?"

"Yes."

Draco shook his head, "That's pre medieval Bulstrode tradition right there; they were savages. Who would have guessed that quite little Millicent would have been into that? I think Blaise and Harold could win the case on that picture alone, as long as they can prove it actually happened to this French guy."

"I don't want to know! I pray it didn't, but I've lived in this world long enough to know that anything is possible."

"So true." He agreed. "Anyway, I'm here to steal you away from this vile stuff. I need to head out to the actual land and I need you to cipher the old map you found for me so we can make sure the plotting is right."

"Gladly, just let me gather this up to put on Zabini's desk."

It didn't take long for Hermione to gather her notes together and make a copy of the picture out of the book for Blaise. Once they were all neatly tucked inside the folder and delivered to a grinning Zabini, Hermione and Draco headed out of the office and around the corner to the apparation point.

"I don't know where this land is exactly." Hermione stated.

Draco said nothing, but instead grabbed Hermione's hand and turned on the spot, jerking them both along to their destination. Hermione had never been a fan of apparation, but was even less so with side along. When she and Draco landed, she had to shut her eyes and take a breath to regain her senses before continuing on.

Draco waited for her patiently and once she looked like she wasn't going to throw up, he handed her the map.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

Xxx

It was really a lot harder than they had imagined checking the plots from the old map to what was in existence now. The map was absolutely ancient, and unfortunately a more modern one had been left back at the office. Therefore, hours had gone by without their notice.

However, they were drawn out of their concentration by the sound of thunder, and as they both looked up at the sky they realized the sky had darkened considerably with clouds without their notice. Before either one could say or do anything the sky opened up and rain started to pour. Pulling out her wand, Hermione transfigured her purse into a water proof bag and stuffed the old map inside as quickly as possible, then she turned to a drenched Malfoy.

"It's three in the afternoon, we haven't had lunch, and now we are soaked to the bone. We cannot return to the office like this." Draco stated.

"Well, what do you suppose we should do?"

Draco said nothing, but grabbed her hand and apparated them into his flat. Hermione once again was left regaining her senses as Draco immediately threw off his drenched robe, leaving him in his slacks and now see through white oxford shirt.

"What the bloody hell, Malfoy? A little warning!"

"Granger!" Draco gasped. "Did you just curse?"

"Yes! Where are we anyway?"

"My flat. I wanted some dry clothes and I have leftover spaghetti in the refrigerator."

"What about me?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you can have some too."

"No, I mean clothes."

"Dress clothes should really not have the drying spell used on them; ruins the integrity of the material. So while I throw our clothes in the dryer, I'll grab you some of my sweats."

As Draco walked away, Hermione was struck by a few things. One, Draco Malfoy had voluntarily let her into his home. Two, Draco Malfoy owned a muggle dryer. And three, he was going to let her, Hermione Granger, wear some of his clothes and eat his food.

He emerged a few minutes later dressed casually in a pair of muggle jeans and a t-shirt and handed Hermione a pair of gray sweats and a plain white t shirt. With a thank you she headed into the bathroom he had pointed out and started to peel off her soaked through skirt and sweater. After casting a drying charm on her undergarments, she quickly pulled on the sweat pants and cinched in the waist tight. Then she threw on the white t shirt and marveled at its softness and smell. It smelled divine; like cedar.

When she exited the bathroom with her wet clothes in hand, Draco had already prepared a plate of spaghetti for her. Once he saw her he moved to take her clothes from her and gestured that she go ahead and eat while he took care of the wet dress clothes. He returned a minute later and eagerly tucked into his own lunch.

"It's almost four now. We should just call it a day and go pick up our kids." Draco sighed after his plate was cleared.

Hermione was just finishing hers and looked at Draco in astonishment.

"Come on Granger, don't be such a bookworm. Everyone knew we were going to be out for the rest of the day working on that land. We got everything pretty much done, so we're done for the day."

"It still feels wrong."

Draco laughed, "You're not going to get in trouble. No one is even going to notice that we're gone."

"Fine, I'll leave when my clothes are dry and go get Rose."

"I'll do the same to get Scorpius; I can't be dressed different or someone might realize that we called off work early." Draco teased.

"Shut up."


	4. Chapter 4

**Tuesday October 17, 2006**

The day of the Haversham trial had arrived. After the day of surveying the actual land back in September, Hermione had continued to finish up the last of the research. Hermione was sure that he would win the case today, or at least he had better given the size of the folder she had provided him with.

She had already succeeded in aiding in the Bulstrode divorce case, which Greengrass and Zabini won quite easily after the information about that certain ritual was presented to the court. Not only was the French guy leaving the marriage with all of his assets in place, but Millicent was now facing charges of illegal ritual activity and faced up to twenty years in Azkaban.

With those two cases pretty much out of the way, Hermione's days in the library had slowed down significantly. Most of her research revolved around small petty cases which hardly provided any challenge at all as the Haversham case and, disgustingly, the Bulstrode case had.

Draco had been at court all day, but just before it was time to clock out for the day he arrived back at the office to drop something off on his desk. As he made his way out to the floos he saw Hermione approaching a floo, presumably to go pick up Rose just as he was about to go get Scorpius.

"Hey Granger!" He called.

Hermione spun around immediately, somehow staying upright in her four inch heels, and looked at Draco expectantly. He caught up to her quickly and held out his hand which she just stared at in confusion.

"I won the case today and I wanted to thank you for your excellent work researching; without it I wouldn't have won today."

At his sincere words of thanks Hermione grasped his much larger hand in her own and returned his smile with a small one. She was happy that he had won the case; she felt a sense of pride that her research had contributed to that. But at the same time she was struck at the oddity of the scene the two of them presented at the moment. Here was Draco Malfoy, former death eater from a bigoted pureblood family, shaking hands, smiling, and thanking a mudblood.

She recognized the fact that Draco had changed; it was hard not to notice, especially when he was around his son. There had been a time when Draco had sneered at the pureblooded Weasleys for being blood traitors and now he was allowing his pureblooded son to be friends with a halfblooded Weasley. It was truly amazing, but apparently Draco was committed to not letting his son grow up with prejudices as he had been.

"Scorpius has been bugging me to take him to pizza, and I'm sure he'll want to take Rose along. What do you say you two tag along tonight to celebrate the case? And it'll give the kids some time to hang out outside of the burrow."

He did have a point; Rose had been bugging her to let Scorpius come over or for them to go somewhere together. While the two of them were able to play together at the burrow, Rose's time was also dominated by some of her cousins who were a bit jealous at the attention she had been giving Scorpius. And because Rose was like Hermione in her consciousness of other's feelings, she tried to include her cousins in with her play with Scorpius.

"Rose had been asking me too. I guess we could come along. Where do you usually go for pizza?"

Draco looked sheepish, "Well, I actually take him to a muggle place. They've got games there and the pizza is pretty delicious."

Hermione smiled, "Sounds good, let's go pick them up and tell them the good news."

Xxx

Looking at Rose and Scorpius playing one of the numerous video games scattered across the pizza place, Hermione was glad she had agreed. Even though she felt ridiculous sitting there in her work clothes and four inch heels, it was all worth it to see the huge smile on Rose's face.

Draco was thinking pretty much the same thing as he watched their children playing together. He was also thinking that the last piece of pizza looked pretty good. Just as he reached his hand out to take it, Hermione did the same and their hands collided. Both pulled their hands back quickly and shot each other nervous smiles.

"Go ahead, you can have it." Hermione insisted.

"No, no, you take it."

"You paid for it."

"Really, Granger, eat it."

"No, I couldn't."

Draco rolled his eyes and picked up his knife, realizing his chivalry was going nowhere fast. He quickly cut down the center of the slice and picked up half for himself and gestured that Hermione do the same.

"There, fifty fifty."

Hermione just grinned and picked up the other half.

"She's a brilliant little girl you know." Draco said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Rose."

"Oh, thank you." Hermione blushed. "I can't take all the credit."

Draco nodded, "You should; she is so well adjusted considering what has happened to her at so young of an age. Scorpius' issues with women stem from his mother abandoning him; or at least that's what the therapist told me."

"One thing that helps is that she's so smart." Hermione stated. "Not to say Scorpius is dumb, but Rose just asked all the right questions about Ron and she seemed to understand easily what had happened and why things could never be the same as they were before. In fact, since her father's death she's become so caring and compassionate just as she was to Scorpius the first day they met."

"It's already started to rub off on Scorpius and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that." Draco said seriously.

Scorpius' behavior had changed since his friendship with Rose developed. There was no oatmeal slinging, instead he was polite and used please and thank you and didn't throw a fit when asked to pick up his toys. Draco was aware that Mrs. Weasley was also to blame for this behavior change, but Draco knew most of what Scorpius learned was from observing his best friend Rose.

Xxx

**Saturday October 21, 2006**

Today was a much needed girl for Hermione. It was a lovely Saturday morning and once Hermione got herself and Rose dressed and ready they were going to go by the Potter's to pick up Ginny and Lilly. This outing was long overdue, but each one of the Potter children had come down with something and passed it back and forth between each other since September. Therefore, Hermione really had not been able to talk to Ginny about her new job at all. Or Harry for that matter either, but she would have to catch him up when they returned to their house for dinner.

Excited for the day, it did not take Hermione long to get Rose dressed and before she knew it they were on their way to Grimmwauld place.

James and Albus were running around the living room when they stepped out of the fireplace, Harry chasing them with his arms in the air and growling while the boys ran away from him giggling. As soon as Harry spotted the two of them he came at Rose with his arms up and growled, sending the little red head running with her dark haired cousins.

Hermione shook her head at their antics and headed to the kitchen where she knew she was sure to find Ginny. Sure enough Ginny had Lilly on her hip and was wiping some last minute oatmeal off of her face, trying not to get any on herself or the cute little outfit she had Lilly in.

"Hey Gin."

Ginny looked up with a rueful smile, "The boys decided to feed Lilly a little extra while I went to get ready."

"I take it that's why Harry is running around out there? To distract them?"

"Exactly; so we can make a clean getaway." Ginny grinned as she put down the wash cloth and walked over to the counter to pick up Lilly's bag and her own purse.

"Do you have your stroller?"

"Already shrunk it down and put it in her bag. Where's Rose?"

"Running away from the four eyed beast out there." Hermione chuckled.

When they reached the living room again, Harry had James and Albus pinned down tickling them while Rose climbed on his back laughing.

"Come on Rose, we're ready to go." Hermione said.

With a sigh, Rose crawled off her Uncle's back and headed over to take her Mother's hand, smiling up at her Aunt Ginny and baby cousin at the same time. While Rose liked to spend the girly time with her Mom, she liked rough housing with James and Albus. And she especially liked it when her Uncle Harry participated too.

Hermione, sensing her daughter's melancholy at having to leave the boys said, "You can play with them when we come back for dinner."

That seemed to satisfy the little girl, and with a last goodbye the four girls began to take turns in the fireplace to floo to Diagon Alley.

Xxx

After an exhausting two hours of picking out clothes for both themselves and their children, the girls finally sat down to lunch in one of their favorite little restaurants in Diagon Alley. Rose and Lilly were happily coloring away on the parchment the restaurant had provided, leaving Hermione and Ginny free to talk.

"So, I hear that Rose has made an interesting new friend." Ginny stated.

Hermione nodded, "It's really sweet how much they've bonded. And Rose has been a good influence on him."

"How did he, of all children, end up at my Mother's day care? I tried to ask her, but she said it was your story to tell."

Hermione sighed, "Well, that's probably because I work with Malfoy."

"Seriously?" Ginny asked in surprise. "Why did no one tell me this?"

"You have been cooped up playing nurse maid to your children, Gin."

"True, but you would think my Mother would have opened her big mouth to tell me that important fact. All Harry and I knew was that you'd been able to get hired at the Greengrass, Larsen, and Wood firm."

"That is true. Greengrass is Malfoy's former father in law so he works there and I was put to researching for a big case of his right away."

"I see," Ginny nodded, looking thoughtful before dropping her voice to say: "I had heard Astoria abandoned them. How a woman could abandon her child is beyond me."

Hermione nodded her head vehemently in agreement.

"How has it been then? Working with him?"

Hermione shrugged, "Not that bad. He's very professionally polite. And as for how his son ended up at your Mother's—I happened to be there when his son was delivered to his office after being kicked out of his previous day care. Apparently, he was a bit of a handful. Malfoy seemed pretty desperate and directly asked me where I had Rose, so I told him and your Mother decided to take him on."

"And apparently he's benefitted, according to Mom."

"Yeah, he and Rose took to each other immediately and Malfoy had already told me how much of a difference Rose and your Mother have made on his son, and he was very thankful for it. He's changed a lot I think."

"He hasn't called you any bad names has he?"

"If he had, I wouldn't be saying he changed now would I? No, he calls me Granger, but I don't mind that."

"How is the actual work?"

"You know I'm good at research. So far everyone has been happy with my work. And I don't know if your Mom told you, but the partners want me to finish my studies so I can be a lawyer in the firm."

"Brilliant!"

"I know. They were willing to work around whatever I needed, but I think I found something that is only going to interrupt my life a bit. Which brings me to something I wanted to ask you and Harry."

"Go for it."

"From January to June there is a program that runs at night from eight until ten. It will disrupt my life the least, because I won't miss any work or Rose time. However, I need people to stay and be there while Rose sleeps until I get home. My Mom and Dad said they could do Tuesday and Wednesday, but that still leaves me with three nights of the week."

"We'll talk to Harry about it when we get back, but I'm pretty sure that is something we would be more than willing to help you with, Hermione."

Hermione smiled, "Thanks Gin."

"No problem."

Xxx

After relating all they had talked about at lunch to Harry after dinner while the children played on the floor of the living room in front of them, Harry was quick to agree with Ginny about helping Hermione out.

"Of course we can help. However, that still leaves you with one day." Harry pointed out. "Ginny can do Mondays and I'll take Thursdays."

Hermione smiled gratefully, "Don't worry about it; I'll figure something out. And whatever you guys want me to pay is fine."

"Absolutely not, Hermione." Harry protested. "You and Rose are family. However, I might eat some of your food while I'm there; that's enough payment for me."

Hermione shook her head with a small smile at her best friend. He and Ginny had been her rocks after Ron's death, and she honestly had no idea what she would have done without them. Someday she would pay them back in some way for all that they had done for her, but for now she would just have to be happy with them eating from her pantry.

"Now back to the Malfoy topic," Harry began seriously, "he's not being rude to you or giving you a hard time is he?"

"No, he's polite and we've even taken the kids out together."

Harry's eyebrows shot up at that.

"Our children are best friends now, Harry, our politeness has to extend outside of the office. But he seems to have no problem doing so."

Harry looked skeptical, but he trusted Hermione's judgment, so if she wasn't worried he wasn't that worried either. However, that did not mean that he wouldn't be keeping an eye on the situation. It was all well and nice that Rose and the Malfoy kid were getting along, but that didn't mean that he would always be nice to his niece. Harry remembered all too well, that muggle saying: The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Probably last update for a while. At the moment I'm stressed out about exams, getting my maintenance request filled so I don't get charged, and locating my class ring thanks to the stupid company sending it to the school and not to my house! Okay, sorry, enough venting. Hope you enjoy! And remember I will be on vacation starting Sunday for 2 weeks.**

* * *

**Monday October 30, 2006**

Hermione was elbow deep in research for one of Zabini cases when she saw a shadow pass over her page, signaling that someone was standing above her. Looking up she saw Malfoy staring down at her, his grey eyes staring into hers a bit intensely considering the position they were in. His eyes slid away from hers and Hermione suddenly realized that she had worn a lower cut shirt today and because of the way she was sitting, there was a nice glimpse of her chest available for hungry eyes. Clearing her throat, Hermione sat up straight, and Draco snapped his eyes away quickly.

"Can I help you, Malfoy?" Hermione asked evenly, trying not to betray her embarrassment at having caught Draco Malfoy staring at her cleavage.

It was his turn to clear his throat, "I have a request to ask of you."

"Alright."

"Scorpius has been begging me to take him trick or treating? However, I have no clue what that is and the only clue I could gather was that he found out about it from Rose."

Hermione smiled, "Yes, it's a muggle Halloween tradition for children—and adults sometimes—and I plan on taking Rose tomorrow night in my parent's neighborhood."

"What exactly does it entail?"

"Children dress up in costumes and go door to door saying trick or treat and people give them candy."

"Interesting; muggles never cease to amaze me with what they come up with." Draco said shaking his head. "Well, Scorpius really wants to go, so I guess what I'm asking you is if the two of us can come along?"

"Do you have a costume for Scorpius?"

Draco quirked a brow, "Granger, if I didn't even know what it was before just now why would I have a costume for him?"

"Valid point; dumb question on my part. Well, I suppose you two can come along; Rose will be thrilled. As for costumes, Rose chose her own costume this year and decided to go as a Princess. I think I have her costume last year and that should fit Scorpius."

"My son is not wearing a girly costume."

"Relax; it's unisex. It's a pumpkin and it's adorable."

"I guess that'll have to do. Is there anything else he needs for this?"

"No, I think I have another bucket he can use for his candy. So just come to my place at seven tomorrow and we'll go to my parent's from there."

"Where do you live?"

After Hermione gave him her floo address Draco left, leaving Hermione with her research and the idea of Draco Malfoy in a muggle neighborhood voluntarily.

Xxx

**Tuesday October 31, 2006**

Draco was nervous about the entire evening, however, with Scorpius practically squirming in anticipation he had to do his best to hide his anxiety and deal with the fact he was going to be way out his comfort zone tonight. It wasn't that he hated muggles, he just did not understand them and didn't want to make a fool out of himself in front of them, or Granger for that matter. He hated that he cared, but he did.

So while Scorpius darted out of Hermione's fireplace as soon as they had flooed in, Draco stood there for a minute looking around. It had a very homey feel to it. The beige couch was fluffy and looked absolutely comfortable, facing a black box that Draco thought may be what muggles called a TV. Whatever it did he had no idea, but he was proud that he was able to recognize it. The room, itself, was painted a pleasant light blue color, and there were pictures hung up all along the walls. As he looked around he noticed most of them were of Rose from the last four years, but there were ones of the Golden Trio, what Draco assumed was Hermione's muggle family since the pictures did not move, and many of the Weasley tribe. However, once he stepped out of the fireplace he noticed that above the fireplace was a large family portrait of Hermione, Weasley, and baby Rose.

Just as he was staring at the smiling Hermione, trying to avoid Ron's eyes, he heard movement behind him and turned around to see Rose and Scorpius dart into the room followed by Hermione. He first noticed that in the time he had been examining her living room, Hermione had taken the liberty to dress Scorpius in the pumpkin outfit, and he had to admit that it was pretty bloody adorable.

The second thing he noticed was how cute Rose looked in her sparkly pink dress, a plastic tiara in her hair which Hermione had done in curls.

However, it was the third thing he noticed which left a much greater impact on Draco. Hermione, apparently, was dressed for the holiday as well. Dressed in tight black pants, a tight white shirt, a black vest, and tall black boots, she looked absolutely gorgeous. The curves of her body distracted from the fake cat tail sticking out of the back of her pants, the pointy ears on top of her head, and the whiskers she had painted on her face.

"Doesn't Scorpius look adorable?" Hermione asked him, drawing him from his stupor.

He cleared his throat, "Yes, he does. However, I didn't realize adults were supposed to dress up as well."

Hermione grinned sheepishly, "Well, most don't. Rose likes me to dress up and wanted me to be a kitty this year."

Merlin, would he like to make that kitty purr. At that thought Draco shook his head, physically trying to shake those thoughts right out of his head. This was Granger he was talking about! Not only was she the annoying bookworm from Hogwarts, but she was Harry Potter's best friend, and Ron Weasley's widow. If that wasn't enough, he needed to remember that their young children were with them.

"Are you okay, Malfoy?" Hermione asked quietly, not wanting to alarm the children.

"Yes, yes, we should probably get going right?"

Hermione nodded, "Rose, go grab yours and Scorpius' bucket and let's head over to Grandma and Grandpa Granger's."

After Rose returned with two pumpkin buckets, Hermione gave Draco the floo direction to her parents' house; since she had had them hooked up to the floo network for years now, then Hermione took Rose by the hand and they flooed away.

When Scorpius and Draco joined them a few minutes later, Hermione's parents were already fawning over how adorable of a princess Rose made. Hermione's father noticed their arrival immediately and shifted his gaze from his granddaughter to the new guests.

Hermione, noticing her father's gaze, spoke up: "This is Rose's best friend, Scorpius, and his father, Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" Albert asked curiously. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

Hermione wanted to slap herself. How could she forget that she had told her parents every horrible thing about Malfoy and his family while she was in Hogwarts? Thank Merlin she had never told them of the torture she had suffered in his house at the hands of his psychopathic Aunt.

"He went to Hogwarts with me, but let's not discuss that right now, Dad. The kids are excited to start the festivities."

"Of course." Albert agreed. "And we are their first stop. Jean?"

"Yes, let me just go get the special goodies I made just for the two of you." Jean smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

When she returned Rose eagerly yelled "trick or treat" which Scorpius repeated immediately after. Jean smiled down at the both of them and placed the special goody bags she had made for her granddaughter and her friend. Inside she had decorated a special Halloween cookie for them. Rose's was shaped like a bat and was beautifully iced with black and purple icing. Scorpius' was a pumpkin, matching him, and was decorated with green and orange icing.

After Albert dropped in some of the candy from their bowl, Hermione wrangled the children outside, with Draco following along behind cautiously.

"Do I blend in alright, Granger?" He asked worriedly as the front door of the Granger house shut behind him.

"Normally you shouldn't wear your robes around muggles, but tonight it'll be okay. They'll just think you're in costume." She answered.

Draco watched from a distance for the first few houses as Hermione held each child's hand and led them up to the front doors to receive their candy from the smiling muggles. He noticed that quite a few of the homeowners were dressed up themselves and shook his head at the things muggles were in to.

"Is that Hermione Granger over there at the Robertson's?" A voice from behind Draco asked.

"Yeah, damn she's bloody smoking!" Another voice replied. "She's a widow now you know, her husband died a few years ago."

"That must be her daughter with her, but who's the other kid? She meet another man already?"

"Bloody hell, I hope not. I've always wanted a chance with her."

The other laughed disdainfully, "Yeah right, you're seventeen!"

"Well, given the chance I'd f—"

Turning around quickly Draco faced the two pimple faced teenagers that were talking behind him as they watched Hermione with the children up on the front porch of one of the houses.

"Hermione Granger is a lady, and as such does not deserve to be talked about as such by two prepubescent boys."

The teenagers looked at Draco in surprise.

"And who the bloody hell are you?"

"The new man in her life."

And with that said he stormed away, having no bloody idea what had just come over him. Why did he claim himself as the new man in her life? And why did he care so much what two seventeen year olds were saying about her? Did he not agree with everything they had said? Yes, but he was too much of a gentlemen to say so out loud.

After that incident Draco decided to get in on the action and took Scorpius' hand as they finished the rest of the Grangers' small neighborhood. Once the kids' buckets were full, and even though Rose begged for an extendable charm on her bucket, Hermione refused and the four of them returned to the Granger's house.

Xxx

After Draco had left with a very tired Scorpius, Hermione turned to the curious faces of her parents as Rose sorted her candy on the floor of the living room.

"Was that the kid who was so horrible to you at school?" Albert asked bluntly.

"Well, yes."

"Then why-"

"He's changed, Dad. He is also a coworker of mine and has proved that he has put the past behind him. Besides that, our children are best friends so we are polite to each other."

"He seemed nice enough." Jean added in with a small smile. "Very handsome too. I always pictured him as a nasty looking little bugger."

Hermione shook her head, a smile playing about her lips. It was true that Draco was very attractive. When they were younger his ugly attitude had blinded her to his other charms. However, now that he was very civil towards her she was starting to notice him physically, a little more than she was comfortable with. He certainly had grown up and filled out rather well.

"Scorpius was adorable as well." Jean added. "What happened to his mother?"

Hermione checked on Rose before she quietly answered her mother, "She ran off, leaving all parental rights to Draco."

Jean gasped and Albert shook his head disapprovingly.

"What Mother could willingly give up her child?"

"Theirs was an arranged marriage. Draco is a pureblood and so was Scorpius' mother, Astoria. Draco was lucky he was able to divorce her at all."

"Well, good riddance then." Jean sighed. "Arranged marriage or not, that child is a part of her."

"As far as Draco is concerned he never wants her in Scorpius' life again."

"Rightly so."

Soon after that Hermione declared it was time to get Rose home before her parents started sorting out all of the sugary candy and replacing it with their sugar free candy. Rose had already been spoiled too much by her Weasley side of the family to willingly submit to sugar free candy.

Xxx

**Saturday November 4, 2006**

Draco was not proud of himself. After experiencing one of the most erotic dreams he had had in a long time, he had actually soiled himself and his sheets, which he hadn't done since he was a teenager. If that wasn't bad enough, the star of his wet dream had been none other than Hermione Granger.

Just remembering back to the dream was enough to make him hard as he stood under the hot water of his shower. The dream had started simple enough; the two of them were in his office at work both bent over a stack of papers. She was wearing that skin tight pencil skirt of hers and those black pumps that screamed shag me. The next thing he knew, the papers were on the floor and Hermione was perched on the desk as he sucked on her neck and ripped her shirt off her body.

Draco shook the image from his head as his hand subconsciously started to head south of his waistline. No! He would not get his jollies off consciously to Granger. Determined not to give in to what his body craved, Draco turned the dial over to cold and shivered as the freezing water poured down on him; effectively cooling his passions.

By the time he was done dressing, he could hear Scorpius playing in his room. However, he immediately was brought to attention by the deep male voice coming from his son's room. Moving down the hall silently Draco peered in on Blaise on the floor playing with Scorpius' collection of dragon action figures.

"Good morning Blaise." Draco greeted.

"Morning, Scorpius and I are playing Dragon attack!"

Draco chuckled as Scorpius roared and attacked Blaise's hand and dragon he was holding with his own dragon.

"How long have you been here?"

"Half hour; Scorpius was just waking up then. I would have thought you would have been up and about by then…"

"Yeah, well…"

Blaise's eyebrows shot up, "Oh? What's going on?"

Glancing at Scorpius, Draco shook his head, "We'll discuss this later."

Later arrived as Scorpius was eating his breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. The two adult men walked into the kitchen where they could still see Scorpius perched at the table, and then Blaise turned to Draco expectantly.

"Did you have a woman over?"

Draco sighed, "I haven't had a shag for six months."

"What?"

"Yes, so that will explain why I had a wet dream last night."

Blaise shrugged, "It happens; especially after six months!"

"I haven't had the opportunity with all of my worries about Scorpius and especially after the last girl turned out to be nothing more than a gold digger. However, this wet dream holds a little more shame for me. It was about Granger."

"What?" Blaise yelled, his dark eyes practically bulging out of his head.

"You should have seen her when we took the children trick or treating."

"What's that?"

"Muggle thing for Halloween. She was dressed as a 'kitty' and bloody hell she was…brilliant in tight pants and black leather boots."

"I can only imagine. Those skirts and heels she wears to work reveal what those school robes never did, that's for sure."

Draco sighed, "Tell me about it."

Blaise clapped Draco on the back, "Don't feel ashamed, mate. She's a beautiful woman who has been forced into your life recently. It's only normal that she would be in your subconscious."

Draco decided not to tell Blaise how close he had come to getting his jollies off to the thought of Hermione only an hour before in the shower. That had been completely conscious.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Okay so I finished up all my exams and finished my research paper, but now I'm sitting around waiting for tomorrow when I will move out. So, I'm bored and I decided I might as well post another chapter. However, after this I'm pretty sure I will be too busy moving and then packing for my vacation to post anymore. Then there will be a 2 week block where I probably won't post either; but hopefully I'll be inspired by Harry Potter world at Universal! Thanks for all of the reviews, alerts, and favorites :)**

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**Friday November 10, 2006**

It was the end of another work week and Draco was preparing to leave early for the day and go pick up Scorpius when Blaise barged into his office with a wide smile on his face.

"So I've been thinking about your wet dream problem a lot this week."

"Whoa, mate, that's not right."

Blaise made a rude gesture at a grinning Draco before continuing on, "I've got a date for you tonight, and trust me when I say that you will be satisfied tonight."

"I don't want a prostitute, Blaise."

"Would I set you up with a prostitute?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so maybe once upon a time I did, but I swear that this girl is not. However, she is a very-let's say- lusty girl who likes to have a good time. She's also a big fan of yours."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Not another gold digger trying to get pregnant to extort money is it?"

"This girl has enough money of her own, she doesn't need yours." Blaise assured him.

"Okay, but there is the problem of my son. I can't just go on a date at the drop of a hat anymore, Blaise."

"Bloody hell, I've got a hot date too." Blaise sighed. "Wait! What about Granger? Her kid and Scorpius are friends right?"

Draco nodded, "Yes, but I would not feel right dropping this on her on such short notice."

"Tell her you'll owe her one, you need this tonight, Draco."

Draco gave his agreement and watched as Blaise practically skipped out of his office, convinced he had done his best mate a great favor. It was true that Draco was hankering for a lay, but he was at an age where the idea of sleeping with some random girl was not that appealing. But at this point he was desperate to keep wet dreams about Granger at bay.

So with that thought in mind he made his way to where he knew Granger would be. Sure enough he found her amidst a pile of books, scribbling away on a piece of parchment. She didn't even notice he was standing over her until he cleared his throat, startling her to attention.

"Merlin! I didn't even hear you come in." Hermione gasped, setting down her quill and holding a hand to her heart.

"Sorry about that, Granger. It wasn't my attention to scare you; I actually have a huge favor to ask of you."

He definitely had her attention now as she stared up at him curiously, wondering what Draco Malfoy was about to ask of her. Rationally she knew it couldn't be too crazy; either work or child related.

"Something has come up tonight and I have no where for Scorpius to go." He began hesitantly.

Hermione immediately knew where this was going and decided to save Draco from what was obviously uncomfortable for him to do, "I'll watch him. Rose and I were just going to have a movie night. In fact, Rose has been begging to have a sleep over with Scorpius. So, he can stay the night if you don't mind."

"A sleep over between a boy and a girl?" Draco asked curiously.

Hermione nodded, "They're young enough that it is completely innocent. Rose has a trundle bed, which is basically another bed attached to hers that he can sleep on. So, drop him off whenever and pick him up tomorrow when you can."

"Thank you, Granger, I owe you. I'll drop him off around six and get him before noon tomorrow."

Xxx

Both Scorpius and Rose had been thrilled at the idea of the sleep over and as soon as Draco arrived at Hermione's with Scorpius, the two had run off to Rose's room eager to begin their night of playing. After confirming times and special night time instructions for Scorpius, Draco stepped back into the fireplace and flooed back home to get ready for his date.

All Blaise had told him was that this witch would be waiting for him at Draco's favorite restaurant with a reservation under his name. So with that in mind, Draco dressed impeccably for the French restaurant and apparated away with a shiver of anticipation.

As usual his restaurant was busy on a night like tonight. However, he was recognized immediately and led to a back corner of the restaurant where a woman was already seated at the small table. Draco did not recognize her immediately. Once the blonde stood up he recognized her as the famous chaser for Puddlemore United, Janelle Estore.

Janelle was every wizard's fantasy. Not only was she incredibly beautiful, with her long wavy blonde hair, large breasts, and big doe brown eyes, but she was a bloody fantastic Quidditch player and could get down with the best of the men out on the pitch.

"Hello Draco, Janelle Estore." She smiled, extending a hand to Draco.

Draco returned her smile and gripped her calloused hand lightly within his own. "Draco Malfoy, and let me say it is a pleasure to meet you."

"You too. Blaise has told me so much about you."

Draco laughed, "Has he? And how do you know Blaise?"

"He's been seeing my sister." Janelle replied. "He is actually out with her right now."

"It must be serious then, because I haven't heard much about her. And with Blaise that usually means he really likes the girl."

Janelle smiled, "I hope that is the case, Jackie is very taken with him."

"So tell me, what is it like playing for Puddlemore?"

Xxx

It had been a tiring night with two children running around the house, each hyper and excited about spending the entire night together. Thankfully the running around had tired both of them out and once Hermione had tucked both of them in and read them a story, they were out.

It was only nine, so Hermione decided to grab a good romance and curl up in her favorite chair to read until bed time. Since Ron had died she had purposely stayed away from any story with a trace of romance in it, which mostly left her with nonfiction. However, she felt that it was time to release the bitterness that surrounded her when it came to these happily ever after love stories. She knew life wasn't like that, she always had, but for a while it had been painful to be reminded that life was not so. But now she realized that there was a reason these love stories existed, to give hope and to allow one to escape for just a little bit.

That and Hermione was ready for a smutty love scene that these cheap romances provided. Lately her libido had been back in full swing. Since Ron's death she had been able to stamp down the desire that naturally reared its head when her hormones were at a high, but now it was more than that. Now it only took the slightest things to arouse Hermione.

Today had been an embarrassing example of that, when she had been face level with Draco Malfoy's crotch. She hadn't meant to look, but as he had been asking his favor of her, her neck had started to hurt from craning her neck to see him, and naturally she had dropped her eyes and encountered his crotch. If her lust wasn't so pent up she would have looked away and thought nothing of it, but instead she had been stuck staring until she realized how indecent she was being by getting turned on by the sight of his crotch!

And now here she was, reading through the pages of this romance quickly to get to those good smutty parts. She needed release, and unfortunately it would not be at the hands of a man. Not any time soon anyway.

Xxx

Dinner had been wonderful and as Draco and Janelle walked around the city Draco contemplated taking her back to his flat. However, he could not do that. His flat was also home to his son; he may not be there but there was just something wrong with that picture. And while he was incredibly attracted to Janelle, they just hadn't connected on another level that with age, Draco was starting to realize was more important than physical attraction.

"You're not going to ask me back to your flat are you?" Janelle asked suddenly.

Draco started guiltily and turned to her about to lie to her when he found he couldn't do it and instead shook his head, "No, I just can't. You are a beautiful and amazing witch, Janelle. But—"

"You don't need to explain, Draco," She interrupted, "I understand where you're coming from. You're a father, you have responsibilities, and I respect that. Just call me if you ever decide you're game for a shag."

With that said Janelle apparated away leaving Draco in shock. She certainly was out for a good time, and wasn't concerned with long term relationships like her sister was with Blaise. Years ago Draco would have already had her in his bed, but he was changed. And while he could have used the release to get his subconscious off of Granger, he could deal with the wet dreams.

Xxx

**Saturday November 11, 2006**

Sure enough Draco woke to wet sheets and flashes of his dream from the night before. He tried to push thoughts of Hermione in that pencil skirt out of his head before flooing over there to get Scorpius. However, as soon as he saw her an image of something she had done to him the night before in his dream flashed through his mind, instantly causing him to harden. Thank Merlin he had put robes on.

Why he reacted was beyond him, Hermione was dressed in an old Gryffindor shirt and a pair of sweat pants, certainly nothing sexy like Janelle had worn the night before or even what Hermione had been wearing in his wet dream.

"It's noon, I started making them lunch and just put a movie in for them." Hermione stated when Draco said nothing and just stared at her.

"Sorry, I slept late." Draco said sheepishly finally noticing that Scorpius and Rose were sitting in front of a black box he now knew to be a Television. They appeared to be watching some sort of cartoon under the sea.

"What's a movie?" He asked recalling what Hermione had said.

"It's like a play, but not live and is recorded. The kids are watching an animated movie, which is basically a bunch of pictures which have been animated."

Draco kept staring at the TV as Hermione talked, enthralled just as the children were with the movie that was playing before them. Before he knew it, he was seated on the couch with Scorpius on his lap and Rose close at his side watching the orange fish and the blue fish look for the orange fish's son.

Hermione just grinned and finished making lunch for all of them. Draco was surprised when Hermione handed him a grilled cheese sandwich, but ate it without comment and kept on watching the movie with the children.

When the movie finally ended Draco looked over at Hermione a little guiltily, but she only smiled at him in return.

"Sorry about that Granger. How were the kids last night?"

"Energetic." She sighed. "But they wore themselves out so they slept through the night."

Draco nodded, "Well, next time it'll be my turn for the sleepover."

Hermione smiled, "I'm sure they'll look forward to that. I get to decide when it is and it can be the favor you owe me."

"Deal."

Xxx

"Janelle informed me that nothing happened between you two last night. What the bloody hell is wrong with you, mate? She was a sure thing!"

Draco was glad he had just put Scorpius to bed because this was not a conversation he wanted him around for. Blaise had come charging out of the fireplace a minute ago and had immediately started laying into him about the night before.

"I couldn't do it. She understood." Draco shrugged. "Now what's this about you and her sister, Jackie? You've never mentioned her."

That seemed to shut Blaise up and even brought a blush to his dark cheeks.

"You really like this witch don't you?" Draco grinned.

"I didn't want to jinx it you wanker." Blaise growled. "But yes, I met her last month at a party and we've been out together every weekend since. It admittedly started out as sex, but it is much more than that now. Which reminds me: you'd rather continue to have wet dreams than get a shag with no attachments?"

Draco nodded, "I'm just not that guy anymore. And as long as I keep my thoughts away from the dream around Granger, I'm alright."

Blaise shook his head, "This is just disturbing. You're having wet dreams about your child's best friend's mother!"

"It's not like she's ugly or married or something!"

"Oh? So you don't think Hermione is ugly?"

"Of course not! You have even said how good she looks in those skirts and heels."

Blaise just grinned at the fluster he was working his friend up in to. This situation he was in was complicated and- he guessed- was going to get messy real soon if these wet dreams kept up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**I feel like I've been away for a month when really it hasn't quite been two weeks. Florida was wonderful, but I am happy to be home. Of course while I was in Florida I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter where I proceeded to act like a giddy school girl. Let me just say that frozen Butterbeer is delicious, especially on a hot Florida afternoon. Besides that I completed the Disney experience which resulted in me being exhausted after my first week in Florida. I couldn't have updated even if I had the strength; the wifi sucked at our hotel in Orlando. The crappy wifi is also why I did not take the time to individually reply to the lovely reviews for this story; there was just too much mail when I finally got internet. Thank you all for understanding. Also, I start work on Monday, so updates may not be as quick in coming as they used to be. But no two weeks of nothing if I can help it!**

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**Monday November 13, 2006**

Monday morning at the firm was pretty slow. It was only eleven and Hermione had already done the necessary research for three separate cases. Admittedly, they were pretty easy cases and did not involve a lot of research. However, she had had no new requests for research, so she was left at her desk with nothing to do but rewrite her notes so they were neater.

She was in the middle or rewriting a page of research for Zabini when a message floated into the room and landed before her on the desk. Eager for a distraction from her boredom, Hermione put down her quill and picked up the piece of folded paper anxiously. After she had unfolded the parchment she lay it down on the desk, smoothed it out with a hand and read.

_Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley,_

_Your presence is requested in the office of Mr. J. Wood immediately._

_Thank You,_

_Catarina Clark_

_Mr. J Wood's Secretary _

Odd. Since the day of her interview Hermione had had limited contact with the partners. During the first few weeks they had made it a point to check in on her and compliment her on her research, but after the Haversham case finished she hadn't really seen any of them. As she stood up and smoothed her skirt down, Hermione immediately began to feel anxious and started to assume the worse. Had she done something wrong? But why wouldn't they call her to the conference room if all of the partners wanted to see her? It had to be just Mr. Wood then, but what could he want?

Of course the only way to find out would be to go there, and as Hermione headed to his office she stamped down her anxious thoughts and tried to appear calm, cool, and collected.

It didn't take her long to get to his office and after a quick knock she was invited inside by the deep voice of Mr. Wood himself. After drawing a deep breath, Hermione opened the door and stepped inside the large office.

Her eyes immediately zeroed in on Mr. Wood who sat behind his desk, watching Hermione with a smile. However, it wasn't until she had walked halfway across the room to one of the chairs opposite of the desk that she noticed a figure sitting on the leather couch against the wall.

"Bloody hell, Hermione Granger? Is that really you?"

Hermione started at the unmistakable Scottish brogue of Oliver Wood. Jacob Wood had met Oliver's mother on a trip to Scotland years ago and had fallen in love immediately with the Scottish beauty. Even after years of living in Scotland and raising their son there, Jacob had never really picked up any of the region's inflection and still sounded as British as he had before he met his wife. Naturally, Oliver had grown up in Scotland and had picked up the brogue.

The last time Hermione had seen Oliver had been at the Final Battle and only at a distance. Since then she had seen him on magazines and flyers as the prize keeper of Puddlemore United. He was just as she remembered from his last year of Hogwarts though, give or take a few pounds of muscle.

"Yes, it's nice to see you Oliver." Hermione replied with a smile.

Oliver continued to rake his eyes over the brunette witch. She certainly was grown up from the thirteen year old he remembered. Sure he had seen her in the papers in the years since then, but he hadn't actually seen her in person since the Final Battle.

"I was sorry to hear about Ron." Oliver said sincerely, his brown eyes staring into Hermione's.

"Thank you."

"So, Dad tells me you're a new acquisition with plans to become a full fledged lawyer?"

Hermione nodded her head, "If all goes well. I'm ready to return to a full work schedule now that my daughter is older."

"I'd heard you had a daughter, how old is she now?"

"Four." Hermione replied.

"Well, let's get to the real reason my Dad called you to his office. I wanted to take you to lunch and catch up."

Glancing at the clock on the wall Hermione nodded her head and shot Oliver a smile.

"Sounds lovely."

"Great!"

"You two have a good time." Mr. Wood said from behind his desk, smirking as he watched the two of them walk from his office together.

Xxx

He was bloody bored. All of his major cases had wrapped up last week and now he was left settling a small affair that didn't even need to go to court. So, that left him at his desk fiddling his thumbs whishing another case like the Haversham one would come in.

Draco looked up from his desk then, and glanced out the window next to his door to see Hermione Granger walk by with a man at her side, laughing. Who the bloody hell was that bloke? It certainly was not someone he was used to seeing around the office.

Fighting down the urge to open his door and take a look at their retreating figures to see who the man was, Draco looked back down at the open file on his desk. He was about to force himself to write some much needed notes when Blaise barged into his office with a grin.

"Oliver Wood is here! He gave me three tickets to the game Saturday and guess who I'm taking? You and Scorpius!"

"Oliver huh? Was that who was leaving with Hermione?"

Blaise shrugged, "Wouldn't be too surprising would it? They were both Gryffindors."

Draco rolled his eyes. Gryffindors did have the annoying pattern of ending up together. Of course, so had Slytherins for a long time as well. But Gryffindors had the annoying habit of being love matched. Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Ron, and he really didn't need to go on.

"I hear Mrs. Wood has been harassing Oliver to get married and start a family for some time now." Blaise added.

"How did you hear that piece of gossip?"

"Mr. Wood gets chatty after a few fire whiskeys and we had a case to celebrate a few months ago." He replied with a shrug. "I can't say I blame Oliver for taking a shot with Hermione, she's beautiful, intelligent, and has a shared history with him in a sense."

All of what Blaise was saying was true and made sense, but that didn't mean Draco had to like it. However, he was pissed that he was so affected by being faced by this truth. Hermione Granger was nothing to him besides his son's best friend's mother, his coworker, and unfortunately the star of his wet dreams. However, none of these things made her special in his life and since they were only polite and not friends, he wasn't permitted to care.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" Blaise asked suddenly, reading his friend's face all too well.

"Nothing, absobloodylutely nothing."

Xxx

Lunch with Oliver had been quite a pleasant experience for Hermione. At the beginning she had viewed the outing as nothing more than two old friends catching up, but as lunch went on and Oliver's flirting became obvious to her, she realized it was much more than that. She was, at first, extremely flattered by his flirting and male attention, and then she realized that she was attracted to him as well. So, naturally, she began to flirt back. What had started as friends catching up had quickly turned into some sort of first date.

And it had gone bloody well! So, it was no surprise that Oliver asked her out to dinner when they arrived at the office again. They settled on Friday night and after he placed a parting kiss on her cheek he disappeared into a fireplace, leaving Hermione in the lobby staring after him.

Mr. Wood's secretary, Catarina, watched Hermione with a small smile on her face. Those Wood men were charmers, that was for sure. She knew how potent Mr. Wood could be when asking a favor of her like picking up his cleaning and picking out arrangements for his wife, but she was sure his son was much more potent with that accent of his.

When Hermione finally snapped out of her stupor she remembered where she was and headed down the hall at a brisk pace, a blush coloring her cheeks. She was about to pass Draco's office when she remembered that she had a date Friday night and a favor owed to her by the blond.

"Come in." Draco called in response to the light knock on his door and watched as Hermione Granger walked into his office with a sheepish smile on her face.

"I've come to collect my owed favor." She started and Draco gestured for her to continue, "Would you mind having Rose for the night Friday? I'm sure Scorpius is eager to show her his room and something has come up for me."

Draco had a pretty good idea what that something was and it had a Scottish brogue.

"That sounds fine, Granger. However, on Saturday Blaise, Scorpius and I will be attending the Puddlemore United game."

Hermione beamed, "Excellent, so will Rose and I! Oliver just gave me two tickets. I'll give you Rose's and meet you there."

"Sounds like a plan, Granger."

"Thank you, Malfoy."

"No problem."

Xxx

**Friday November 17, 2006**

Hermione had really never been on a date before. Yes, she was twenty seven years old and she had been married for a time, but never before had she experienced something like what she was about to tonight. Before Hogwarts she had been too young to date, and during Hogwarts opportunities for her to date didn't really happen all that often. Although there was Victor Krum in her fourth year, she mostly hung out with him and went to the Yule Ball with him; she didn't actually go out on a traditional adult like date with him.

And with Ron…they had gone straight from friendship into a relationship and as such they really hadn't had the chance to go out on real dates. Yes, they had gone out to eat after they were married and the like, but there was never that uncertainty about the date because they had been friends so long and were married.

So that was what Hermione was feeling; the feeling of uncertainty that came before a first date. Yes, she knew Oliver Wood and had had lunch with him a few days before, but now the intent was clear. There was the potential for a relationship here and that both filled Hermione with anxiety and got her pulse racing at the same time. Oliver Wood had been a sexy teenager, and now he was a bloody sexy man. Not only did he physically stimulate her, but it seemed that over the years he had learned to talk about more than just Quidditch. If he had been spouting off nonstop about the sport the other day as he used to in his Hogwarts days, she never would have granted him a date.

Due to this mixture of excitement and anxiety Hermione was not very productive at work. Thankfully she had gotten the majority of her research done earlier in the week and since no one seemed to have taken on any challenging cases, she didn't have a lot to do to begin with.

So when five rolled around, Hermione was ready to go and cleared up her workspace quickly, anxious to get home and begin her preparations for her date at seven.

"Granger!" Draco called as Hermione shuffled past his office, her robes on and her purse clutched in hand.

Hermione stopped in her tracks, turned around, and stood in the doorway to Draco's office.

"Rose has all of her stuff for tonight with her at the Burrow, correct?" He asked.

Hermione nodded, "Yes, and she should fill you in on all of her nightly routines. The only thing I should warn you about is that sometimes she has night terrors."

"Night terrors?" He asked alarmed.

"She hasn't had one in a while, but sleeping in a new place may trigger one."

"And what am I supposed to do if she has one?"

"The only thing you can do is wait it out and make sure she doesn't hurt herself thrashing around. She won't remember if she has one, so if she does have one its best not to mention it to her."

Draco nodded his understanding, hoping that he would not have to deal with that while watching the kids tonight. He knew he was already in for a tiring night and he didn't need that on top of everything else.

"Alright, have fun and I'll see you tomorrow at the game." Hermione smiled, then turned on her heel and headed towards a fireplace.

Back in her bedroom Hermione was faced with a different dilemma than Draco was in taking care of two hyper children for the night. She had no idea what to wear! Most of her dressier clothes were from before her pregnancy and as such, were out of date. Everything else was too business like or too casual.

Desperate, Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder and knelt down in front of her fireplace in her bra and underwear.

"Ginny!" She called desperately once she had made connection with Grimmwauld place.

There were a few shuffles and muted voices before a pair of feet came into her view. A second later, Ginny's head came into view as she knelt down in front of her own fireplace.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

"So, I have a date."

Ginny's face lit up, "Really? Who?"

"I'll tell you, but only if you bring some outfits for me and come over. I have nothing to wear."

"Alright hang on." Ginny stated then stood up. "Harry! Watch the kids Hermione needs my help!"

"What's wrong, is she okay?" Hermione heard Harry call back.

"It's girl stuff, don't worry about it!"

At that Hermione ended the call and waited in her living room for Ginny to floo over. A few minutes later the red head stepped out of the fireplace with a dozen outfits in her hands. Taking in the brunette waiting for her on the couch in her underwear, she quirked a brow and headed for Hermione's bedroom.

"Okay, so who's the guy?"

"Oliver Wood."

"You're kidding!"

Hermione smiled, "Nope, remember his Dad is one of the partners?"

"That is brilliant! Wait—you might get bored, Hermione. He's bloody gorgeous, no doubt about that. But you're not a big Quidditch person-"

"It's okay Gin; he talks about more than Quidditch now."

Ginny let out a breath, "Good. Well in that case, I think you should wear this."

With that said Ginny held out one of her prized little black dresses. As the wife of the chosen one, Ginny had been required to have an extensive closet for all of the balls and dinners Harry was invited to. As a result, her sisters in law raided her closet quite frequently. Ginny didn't mind though; she'd been deprived of the honor by growing up with all brothers.

This particular little black dress, she knew, was going to look brilliant on Hermione and her curvy frame. The dress was a halter top, which Ginny knew would display Hermione's breasts quite nicely, yet modestly, and the back dipped down low, showing off Hermione's shapely back. The dress reached just above the knee and once Hermione put on her black peep toed high heels, her legs looked amazing.

"Gin, thank you so much!" Hermione exclaimed as she looked at herself in her mirror.

"No problem and your hair already looks amazing like that." Ginny replied looking at Hermione's tousled curls. "Just a hint of eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss and you're good to go."

With that said, Hermione did as advised and once again looked over herself in the mirror. She hadn't dressed up this much in ages. Sure she wore skirts a lot to work, but there was just something to be said for dresses. Especially little black dresses. She felt so feminine at the moment and she loved it. Even if the date turned out to be a total failure, at least she got to feel like this once again.

Ginny left soon after with her other outfits in hand, leaving Hermione alone waiting for Oliver to arrive. She had just settled down to read part of her latest romance novel when her floo ignited and Oliver Wood appeared in her fireplace. A second later he stepped out, looking impeccable in slacks and a maroon sweater, reminiscent of their days in Gryffindor.

"Evening, Hermione." He greeted with a smile.

Hermione bookmarked her page quickly and stood up to great Oliver. As she stood it was Oliver's turn to take in the witch before him. Hermione caught him staring and only smiled at him invitingly; quite loving the attention she was receiving.

Oliver cleared his throat, "Ready then?"

"Yes."

Xxx

Pizza with the children had been an interesting affair. He had taken them to the muggle place he always took Scorpius, however, tonight had been some other child's birthday party which meant the entire evening had been pure chaos. He was exhausted by the time he wrangled the two of them into their flat, but they were still full of energy. Thankfully, they ran off to Scorpius' room to play, leaving him to enjoy his nightly book.

But as their bedtime approached, Draco made his way to Scorpius' room to find the two quietly reading on Scorpius' bed. Well, Rose was reading, but Scorpius was gazing at the pictures intently, while Rose read him the story.

"It's bed time you two. Let's get those teeth brushed while I make Rose up a bed."

The children grudgingly went about getting into their pajamas and brushing their teeth while Draco took a pillow off of Scorpius' bed and transfigured it into a little bed for Rose besides Scorpius'. After he grabbed a set of sheets and a blanket he made the little bed and waited for the kids to rejoin him.

One by one he tucked each of them into bed, dropping a kiss on Scorpius' forehead, and smiling down at Rose in goodnight. Then, turning out the light, Draco retreated into his own room for the night.

He was woken what felt like hours later by Scorpius' little hands pushing at his chest.

"Daddy, Daddy…"

"What's wrong, buddy?" Draco asked groggily.

"Rose upset."

Immediately realizing what must be happening, he tossed the covers back, told Scorpius to climb in, and headed down to Scorpius' room to investigate. Sure enough, Rose was in the throes of what must be a night terror. She was thrashing around and every now and then let out a scream. Pulling his wand from his pajama pocket, he cast a protective bubble around her and sat on the floor next to the little bed to wait it out with her.

After a while she started to calm down and before Draco knew it she was sound asleep once again as if nothing had happened in the first place. Scorpius was asleep in his bed when he returned to his room, and after returning him to his own bed, Draco fell into dreamland himself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

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**Saturday November 18, 2006**

Draco was always amazed by how well Blaise got along with children. By this point he wasn't surprised when he found the grown man playing games like 'Dragon Attack' with Scorpius, but he was surprised when upon meeting Rose Weasley for the first time it was only a matter of an hour or two before he was playing with her just as he did Scorpius.

Therefore, Draco felt like he was going to the Quidditch game with three children, instead of two. However, he was happy to see both of the children smiling and laughing so openly with Blaise. Blaise had brought both of them children size Puddlemore jerseys and had helped each of them put one on. Scorpius' supported Janelle Estore, and Rose' was a Wood jersey. How fitting given the situation, but he was sure that was exactly what Blaise had in mind when picking out the jerseys for the children.

However, if he mentioned it, it would only get Blaise started, so he ignored it and hustled the three of them out of the flat so they could apparate to the stadium.

Once at the stadium it was easy work finding their seats. All were contained in a special box marked for family and friends of players, so Draco had no doubt that Hermione wouldn't show up at this box to meet up with her daughter.

Sure enough only a few minutes later he saw her enter the box and look around for them. She spotted Draco first before her gaze shot past him and to where Blaise was holding Rose and Scorpius up against the paneled glass so they could get a better look at what was going on in the rest of the stadium. Seeing that her daughter was alright, she returned her gaze to Draco and made her way over to him.

"Thank you again for last night." She began. "How were they?"

"Tiring." Draco replied. "I should tell you though; Rose did have a night terror last night."

Hermione sighed, "Was it bad?"

"Scorpius came in to wake me up and when I found her it wasn't too bad and she calmed down and settled into sleep pretty quickly." Draco replied.

"I hope this doesn't scare you into not having her over again. Now that she has slept there this shouldn't happen again."

"It wasn't bad, honestly. Scorpius was concerned, but didn't seem effected by it at all this morning. So, I would be happy to have Rose back for the night any time."

Hermione smiled, "Good. Now where did she get that jersey?"

"Blaise bought them for the two of them."

"Who's Estore?"

"She's a chaser and Blaise's girlfriend's sister."

Hermione nodded but said nothing more. Draco read the silence well though; she didn't want to comment on the fact that Blaise had been apt in picking out the appropriate jersey for her daughter.

"Mom!" Rose yelled excitedly as Blaise placed her down on the ground. "Look what Blaise got me!"

Once the game began it was clear to Draco that Hermione wasn't much of a Quidditch person, however, she knew enough to get by. Both of her two best friends had played in Hogwarts, and Draco was sure that Weasley probably had taken her to a few professional games at some point in their marriage. But it was clear that Rose had inherited a passion for Quidditch that could only have been passed on by her Father. She had abandoned sitting next to her Mother and migrated to where Draco, Blaise, and Scorpius sat yelling at the officials and players.

Draco noticed she was much more interested in watching Rose have a good time with them than the game itself. A small smile played about her lips as Rose mimicked Blaise's cry to the Puddlemore chaser and Draco realized that this was something she could not give her daughter. And it made Draco feel good to know that he and his friend were able to give this to her.

When the game ended in victory for Puddlemore United, Blaise dragged the whole gang down to the locker rooms. Hermione had protested that they were surely not allowed down there, but apparently his relationship with Estore's sister was enough to get him past the guards and into the heart of the locker rooms.

The locker rooms were split up into two sections; the men's side and the woman's side. Hermione was relieved to note that they were currently in the woman's side and since there were only two women on the team, the room wasn't crowded or uncomfortable at all. In fact, it was pretty inviting.

"Blaise!" Janelle greeted heartily, still in her Quidditch uniform. "I see you've brought everyone down. Good to see you Draco."

Draco nodded in return.

"Yup, I decided the kids needed the full experience." Blaise answered.

"And who are these adorable children?" Janelle asked. "Wait, it's obvious who this little boy is; you must be Draco's son. But who is this lovely little girl?"

"I'm Rose Weasley." Rose replied proudly.

Apparently Janelle was familiar with who Rose was because her eyes widened and then locked on Hermione's immediately.

"Hermione Granger? It's an honor. Truly." Janelle said, walking over and extending her hand out to Hermione.

Janelle could hardly believe she was meeting Hermione Granger, member of the Golden Trio, and widow to another member of the Golden Trio.

"It's nice to meet you." Hermione smiled.

Once Janelle snapped herself out of her stupor she turned back to Blaise, "You should really take them over to the guy's side. However, make sure they're decent before you let this little lady in; I've been scarred for life by them and that's saying something."

Hermione wasn't so sure that going to the guy's side was a good idea, especially after a victory, and given what had happened after her date with Oliver last night. But, the kids and Blaise were adamant, which left her and Draco tailing along behind.

Blaise barged in first to make sure it was safe for them to enter and a minute later he reappeared with a wide smile on his face and ushered them into the dressing room.

The five men inside the dressing room were in various stages of undress. Thankfully none of it was too scandalous for Hermione or her four year old daughter to see. Many of them were shirtless, but all of them had their pants on.

Of course, Hermione noted almost immediately, Oliver was one of them who had his shirt off. And bloody hell if it wasn't appealing. Oliver seemed to notice her immediately and smirked at the sight of the blushing Hermione. Then he seemed to realize who she was with in the locker room with and hurriedly shuffled back into a shirt, covering his toned chest once again.

"Did you guys enjoy the game?" Oliver asked as he knelt down to face the children.

"Yes!" Both of the children cheered as they stared up in awe at the famous keeper who had contributed, quite significantly, to the win today out on the field. If it wasn't for his amazing saves, the other team may have won by sheer points.

"Brilliant! And who may you two be?" Oliver asked, although he knew very well who each of these adorable children were.

"I'm Rose Weasley and he's Scorpius Malfoy." Rose answered confidently, reminding Oliver very much of her Mother that was standing behind her watching them.

"Well Rose and Scorpius, what do you say to me signing your jerseys?"

It was adorable. After Oliver had signed their jerseys he gestured that the rest of the guys do the same while he stood up and walked over to where Hermione stood.

"It appears someone takes after her Mother." Oliver grinned.

"I've heard that a lot lately." Hermione blushed. "Though she certainly has the look of a Weasley about her doesn't she?"

Oliver nodded, "She's beautiful, Hermione. Just like her Mother."

If it was even possible the blush staining Hermione's cheeks grew even darker. Thankfully everyone else in the locker room was absorbed in the children and therefore were not witness to the flirtation between Hermione and Oliver.

"I really enjoyed dinner last night." Oliver continued, immediately reminding Hermione of what had happened at the end of their dinner the night before.

He had kissed her good night, and while she had been expecting a simple peck on the cheek, Oliver had gone straight for her lips, kissing her as she hadn't been kissed in years now. Initially she was surprised at his forwardness, but as his lips tugged at hers she found that it felt too bloody good to protest it.

"Me too." Hermione confessed.

"We'll have to do it again soon."

Hermione could only nod her head in agreement as she noticed that they did, in fact, have an audience in Draco Malfoy. The blond was staring at them out of the corner of his eyes intently, wondering what the bloody hell Oliver was saying to her getting her to blush so!

Draco's gaze knocked her out of the spell Oliver had put her into and with a smile in goodbye she walked back over to the group and waited for the players to finish signing Rose's jersey.

Xxx

**Monday November 20, 2006**

Draco Malfoy was not proud of himself; not after the turn his weekend had taken. After he had observed Oliver Wood and Granger flirting there in the locker room he was determined not to let Hermione dominate his sleeping hours again. So, after she had left with Rose in tow, Draco had entrusted Scorpius into Blaise's care and headed back to the women's locker room.

Only Janelle was still there, the other female chaser had already taken off, and she had smiled up at Draco invitingly when he walked in alone with a look of determination on his face. He didn't need to tell her what he wanted; it was quite obvious. So after a quick shag right there up against one of the tiled walls of the locker room, the two had parted ways quite amicably and he had taken his son home for the day.

He was not proud of it, but he hadn't had a wet dream about Granger since and that had been his goal in the first place. Did he intend to shag Janelle again? No. He could not, in good conscious, shag her without any sentiments behind it whatsoever. He simply was not that guy anymore, and even though it certainly had been pleasurable it was not worth the shame he felt.

But it was inevitable that Granger would get back into his head again. He had just gotten a case that was going to need extensive research and cooperation between them; more so than even the Haversham case had called for.

This was an inheritance case; which not only involved genealogical issues, but land, and a lot of money. So, with a deep breath Draco entered Hermione's domain with his information in hand and walked up to her desk where she sat organizing papers.

She looked up at his approach and smiled in welcome at the blond.

"Good morning, Malfoy."

"Morning. I've got a new case that should pose quite a challenge for your talents as researcher."

"Really? I've been bored around here lately."

"Well, prepared to get really busy." Draco replied as he handed her the file. "This case is going to require a lot of time and energy between the both of us, Granger. The clients want it settled before Christmas, but I don't see that happening, so take your time."

Hermione nodded and started to sort through the file, glad that she finally had a challenge before her.

Xxx

"So how was it?"

Draco looked up from his sandwich and into the face of his best friend sitting across the table from him at lunch.

"How was what?"

Blaise quirked a brow, "Don't play dumb with me. Even if Jackie hadn't told me, I knew immediately what you were going to do when you left Scorp in my care Saturday there in the locker room. However, I got the details from Jackie. Up against the tile 'eh? How was it?"

Draco ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "Brilliant, at the time. But I'm not proud of it and its never happening again."

Blaise sighed, "Janelle isn't the type of girl who expects anything, mate."

"I know, but I'm not that guy anymore."

"What changed your mind in the first place?" Blaise asked curiously.

Draco's silence was answer enough for Blaise.

"Granger huh?"

"I didn't want to have another dream about her again and I didn't."

"Well, you probably will again. It sounds like this may be something more than just your subconscious."

"I don't know what is wrong with me!"

Blaise shook his head, "Nothing is wrong with you. She's an attractive, intelligent woman, and its natural that you should be attracted to her. Especially given your close proximity to her lately with Rose and Scorp hanging out."

Draco nodded his head; everything Blaise said made sense.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Okay so I had this all ready to go last night but fanfiction was not working right. Happy Memorial Day to those who celebrate it. Also, a thank you to the reviews I was not able to reply to; I started back to work last week and had quite a busy week.  
**

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**Friday December 15, 2006**

Yet again it was Draco's turn to have both of the children at his flat tonight for a sleepover while Hermione went out on a date with Oliver. It was no secret now, to anyone, that Oliver and Hermione were dating. They were currently the talk of the tabloids. The golden trio widow and the Quidditch star seemed to make a cute couple according to every article Draco had seen about it.

Thankfully this was the second sleepover at his place since the first one, which meant that Hermione either wasn't spending too many weekend late nights with Oliver or she was sending Rose to her Grandparents or other family members. However, during that time Hermione had also hosted a few sleepovers. But according to Scorpius, the second time Oliver had been there to eat dinner with them. Of course Scorpius had loved every minute of it, but it had only made Draco scowl. He hated that it bothered him as much as it did. He had no claim on Granger, so why the bloody hell did he care who she dated? There was just something about the whole situation that niggled at his conscious.

Currently he was engaged in a riveting game of 'the floor is lava' with Scorpius and Rose, and found himself perched on top of his coffee table as Scorpius and Rose jumped from one of the chairs and onto the couch. It was really quite fun to play these games with the two of them, especially since he hadn't had the chance to play these games as a child himself.

"The house you're on is burning, Draco!" Rose yelled, since the coffee table he was on was, naturally, a wooden house, and not a rock like the couch was.

Unfortunately the coffee table ahem—wooden house, had been pushed away from where the rock, couch, was so Draco had quite a leap ahead of him. Both Scorpius and Rose watched eagerly as Draco assessed the distance and both moved out of the way as he prepared himself for launch.

He had just landed successfully between Scorpius and Rose when the fireplace ignited and Hermione stepped out of the fireplace and onto the lava, carpet, of his living room.

"No! Mom you're in lava!" Rose yelled.

"'Mione dead!" Scorpius screamed.

"What is going on?" Hermione asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion at seeing the three of them huddled on the couch with the living room in disarray.

"We're playing the floor is lava, Granger. And you're standing right in the lava." Draco replied simply.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders, uncaring at the moment. Draco noticed her behavior immediately. He knew from watching her with the kids before that she would have joined in immediately normally, something was off. And as he studied her closely he could tell that something had upset her because there were tear tracks on her face, and her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Hey, why don't you guys finish your blanket fort in Scorp's room?" Draco suggested, knowing for sure that something had to have happened if she was here to pick up Rose before she had even spent the night.

Before Hermione could protest that she simply wanted to take Rose home, the children had already run down the hall and into Scorpius' room, leaving the two of them in the living room together.

"What happened? Last I checked the night hasn't passed yet; you're a bit early to pick Rose up."

"I just decided I want her home tonight."

"Bull shit. You're upset. What happened? Did Oliver hurt you?"

Hermione shook her head frantically, "No, he didn't hurt me. If anything I hurt him. I led him on; I'm such a horrible person."

With that said, Hermione dropped down into his recliner dejectedly. How had she ended up here talking to Malfoy about her problems? That had not been what she intended at all. After parting ways with Oliver she was going to go grab Rose, go home, and settle in to bed by herself and her shame. But here she was; about to tell Malfoy why she was a horrible person.

"I'm confused, why are you a horrible person?"

"I led him on."

"How?"

"I was just so happy to be receiving male attention again; I was just so lonely and he happened to come along and show me attention. And he's handsome and he kissed me so well, but it was clear to me by the second date that we could never work, yet I still pretended that it could. I got his hopes up, and that makes me horrible."

"But you told him this tonight though, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Only because he suggested going back to his place. I had to say something. I couldn't go through with that without feeling something deeper for him."

"Don't beat yourself up, Granger. He understood didn't he?"

"Yes, he was very understanding, but I could tell how disappointed he was."

Draco snorted, "Of course he was disappointed; he thought he was going to bed you! Granger, you've been widowed for almost two years, it's natural that you be lonely and crave that kind of male attention. But at least you put a stop to it and realized it wasn't right, no matter how the attention made you feel."

Hermione was quiet for a while following Draco's words. He was right; at least she had stopped it before it had gotten out of control.

"Thank you." Hermione said quietly.

"Mom!"

"Dad!"

"Come see our fort!"

Draco and Hermione shared a smile and stood to go investigate the blanket fort their children had created together, both of them trying to forget the oddity of Draco Malfoy comforting Hermione Granger.

Xxx

**Monday December 18, 2006**

Christmas was only a week away and Hermione had so much shopping left to do! The research for Draco's case had dominated most of her time, leaving her little time to get presents for people. Her free time had been spent getting ready for her semester in law starting in January, sleeping, and spending time with Rose.

However, she wanted to get as far as she could with this research before Christmas break at the office and before she started her classes. Draco had assured her that the case wasn't going to go to court until mid January, but she wanted to have most of the heavy research done as soon as possible.

"Granger, do you realize that it's seven o' clock?" Draco asked from the doorway of the library where he stood with Scorpius and Rose each holding on to one of his hands. "I picked up Rose for you and took the two of them to dinner."

Hermione looked up, startled. How had the time gotten away from her like that? Slamming her books closed, she grabbed her purse and rushed over to her daughter.

"I'm so sorry, Rosie."

Rose just smiled, "It's okay, Mr. Draco took us to pizza."

"Granger, you need to pace yourself with this research, the case isn't until mid January." Draco said.

"I know, but I want to get most of it out of the way before I start my classes."

Draco nodded, "Relax on it for now. We have to travel to France the week after Christmas for research."

"What? When?"

"You and I are scheduled to head for France on the first of January. And we'll be back by that Saturday. I already checked and your classes don't start until the second week of January."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "What's in France?"

"A witness, with extensive information both in her head and in her library. Not only do I need you for the research in her library, but she doesn't like men and, therefore is very unlikely to talk to me about what she knows."

"What about our children? I need a little more head's up than that you know." Hermione said indignantly.

Draco shrugged, "My Mother is returning from her vacation in France and is watching Scorp for me. You have parents, Granger, ask them."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco and grabbed Rose's hand with her own. "Say goodnight to Mr. Malfoy and Scorpius, it's time for us to go home."

After Rose had said her goodbyes Hermione hustled Rose to the fireplaces and took them home for the night.

Xxx

**Saturday December 23, 2012**

"A week in France with Draco Malfoy," Ginny began, a contemplative look on her face, "that should be interesting."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she searched through the bookshelves of Flourish and Botts for the book Rose had asked for as a Christmas present. Hermione was always happy to buy her daughter books, and judging from the pile already in her arms she might have gotten carried away.

"It's not 'with' Draco Malfoy; it's a business trip, Gin."

"Regardless, it's weird. You'll be traveling with Malfoy."

"Tell me about it, but he is kind of my boss. And this is a big case we're working on. Besides, this is all great practice for when I'm a lawyer at the firm instead of just a law librarian." Hermione retorted, as she pulled the book she had been looking for out of the shelf and added it to her pile.

"I think you've got enough books there for Rose, Hermione." Ginny laughed as she eyed the stack in Hermione's arms. Compared to her own pile for her three children, it appeared that Hermione was the one with three children, not Ginny.

"She loves to read."

"Just like her Mother." Ginny laughed. "Speaking of Rose, who's watching her while you're in France on business with Malfoy?"

"My parents; they're going to take her on a ski trip. I wish I could be there, but at least Rose will have a good time."

"You can have a good time in France too, Hermione. Malfoy can't expect you to be doing research every moment of every day. You better get out and explore France a little and enjoy yourself. Go shopping, eat cheese, drink lots of wine! You're single Hermione! Meet a handsome French man and have a tryst!"

Hermione looked around frantically, to make sure no one had heard her red headed best friend's outrageous suggestion, her face flushed red, "Shh! I am not going to have a tryst with any man, let alone some random French man, Ginny!"

"Well, at least drink lots of wine."

"That's a given considering all the research I'm going to be doing."

After the two witches made their purchases in the book store they headed back to _The Leaky Cauldron_ since they had finally finished all of their Christmas shopping. It had taken a while since it was already five in the afternoon, but Christmas had become quite a big ordeal following the war in the Weasley clan.

Tomorrow for Christmas Eve Rose and Hermione were headed to her parent's house for a quiet dinner, gift exchange, and an evening of board games. Then Christmas morning was strictly time for Hermione and Rose to exchange gifts—or more accurately Hermione to give her daughter her presents. Then in the afternoon the two would head to the Burrow for a rowdy dinner and a huge gift exchange.

When the two reached Grimmauld Place, they found the living room in chaos. It appeared that Rose had introduced her cousins and Uncle to the game of 'the floor is lava'. Harry and the two boys were currently perched on the couch with Lilly sitting in the big recliner looking around in confusion at the chaos around her. Rose was currently in the middle of jumping from the piano bench to an overstuffed chair, and all the boys cheered when she successfully made it.

"What is going on here?" Ginny asked her hands on her hips as she assessed the scene before her.

"The floor is lava, Gin." Harry replied sheepishly.

"Just put it back together again when you're done." Ginny sighed and made to rescue baby Lilly from the recliner. "Thank Merlin I got one girl, without having to have six boys first."

"We should introduce the rest of the kids to this game at Christmas!" Harry said suddenly.

"That'll be absolute chaos." Hermione stated already picturing how competitive it would become with George in on it.

"Which means it'll be brilliant!"

"Yeah!" All three of the children seemed to chorus, except for Lilly who was chewing on the toy in her hand.

"My Mother is going to kill you, Harry Potter."

Harry grinned, "No, she won't. She loves me."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**I honestly do not remember what day I posted last, so I figured it was probably about time to post another chapter while I have time. Yet again a special thank you to those reviews I didn't get a chance to reply to.**

* * *

**Tuesday January 2, 2007**

The day before Hermione and Draco had arrived at their hotel in France separately late in the afternoon. Their work didn't start until today and therefore they hadn't seen each other as of yet. So, Draco walked down the hall to her room and hesitantly knocked on the door to her hotel room.

A minute later the door swung open and Hermione stood there dressed just as he was, professionally, as they did for work, with her bag in hand ready to go.

"Let's go, shall we?" Draco asked.

Draco led Hermione down to one of the large fireplaces in the hotel lobby, grabbed a handful of floo powder, and waited for Hermione to get in and stand next to him. Then he tossed down the powder and yelled out their destination: Hartley Manor.

When the two of them stepped out of the white marble fireplace in Hartley Manor they were greeted by the visage of an elderly woman perched in an arm chair with a fluffy and scowling white cat in her lap. The lady stared at the pair of them obviously sizing them up as her cat continued to glare at them as they smoothed down their clothes from the floo travel.

"I hate lawyers." The lady grumbled, breaking the silence in the large, ornate, sitting room. "And men, and most of all: Malfoys."

Draco resisted his temptation to roll his eyes. Thank Merlin he had brought Hermione along because she did not fall under any of the categories this crazy old bat had just listed.

"A pleasure to meet you Lady Hartley." Draco said as politely as he could considering he was aching to hex this lady.

"Who is she?" Lady Hartley asked, staring at Hermione.

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione began, "I am not a lawyer, a man, or a Malfoy."

"Excellent." Lady Hartley replied. "I suppose the two of you are here to get information out of me and my extensive library for this case of yours."

"Yes, we are. But we won't be of much bother at all, Lady Hartley." Hermione rushed to assure her, with a pleasant smile on her face. "If you could just tell me where the library is located I can get started so we can be out of your hair."

"It's the fifth door on the right. And take him with you; his hair is blinding me."

This time Draco rolled his eyes and happily followed behind Granger out of the sitting room and into the dark hallway. The two of them were quiet as they marched down the hall, ignoring the questions coming from the numerous portraits that lined the walls. Once they had entered the fifth door, Draco shut the door behind them and turned to face the library.

It was enormous! He had always been proud of the size of Malfoy Manor's library, but this one put it to shame easily. Of course, the library at Malfoy Manor was also organized much better than this library. Books seemed to be stuffed into shelves haphazardly, with no real organizational system at all.

"This is going to take forever." Draco sighed.

Hermione nodded her head in agreement, "What information is supposed to be in here?"

"An extensive Hartley family tree. It'll probably be in a very old leather bound book and will probably have some sort of protective charm around it. Be careful, Granger. You're a muggleborn, and some of these books could potential hurt you with just one touch."

"Well, I'll leave touching those books to you then."

"Smart idea."

Xxx

**Friday January 5, 2007**

It had taken days of digging through the library to finally locate the book they needed, and when they did Hermione was thankful Draco was there to do the handling because the book was warded heavily. After they had taken the information they had needed, they were eager to leave that library behind them—as well as the manor. But then both of them seemed to remember that they still had information they needed to get out of Lady Hartley herself.

Neither of them had seen her since that first day, but they had seen the fluffy white cat watching them as they came and went. So, as the two of them left the library and spotted the cat near the stairs, they decided to follow him to his master.

Sure enough the cat led them right to Lady Hartley's private parlor where she almost seemed to be waiting for them, perched in a paisley armchair.

"I know what you want me to tell you." She stated. "You've probably discovered the missing page in the book—well I have it."

"So, you know the genetic line of the missing brother?" Hermione asked eagerly, ready to put this entire case behind her at this point.

"Yes," Lady Hartley answered, "you'll find the page in the top drawer of that table over there. Take it and leave."

"Thank you Lady Hartley." Hermione said earnestly as Draco found the missing piece of information that was going to win this case for him.

Lady Hartley waved a dismissive hand and without wasting another moment, the two of them hurried out of the room and back to the fireplace in the sitting room. Once they were back in the comfort of the hotel lobby, Draco and Hermione turned to each other with wide smiles.

"What a week huh?" Draco chuckled. "That lady is crazy."

"I'm so glad I never have to step foot in that library again—I was so close to organizing the entire place."

"That does not surprise me. Let's get a drink, we deserve it."

Hermione nodded her agreement and the two of them walked down the hall and into the hotel bar where Draco opened a tab for the two of them and ordered them a bottle of his favorite red wine. It started out innocently enough with each of them slowly sipping on their wine and enjoying the flavor. But then Hermione was reminded of Ginny's words and she finished the first glass quickly and poured another glass for herself. Draco followed her example, and though they could both tell they were on their way to becoming drunk, they both continued to consume the wine carelessly.

"More wine, sir." Hermione giggled after finishing her fourth glass. "Ginny would kill me if I didn't have my share of French wine."

"Certainly, my lady." Draco slurred as he sloppily poured more wine into both Hermione's glass and his own.

"You know, I thought that I would have been able to go out about the town at some point on this trip, but that library was a bloody mess!" Hermione exclaimed.

Draco gasped dramatically, "Did Hermione Granger just curse?"

"Why yes! I did!" Hermione laughed before taking another huge swallow of her wine. "Well at least I've had wine and lots of it!"

"That's the most important thing, Granger. You know… this wine is obscenely expensive and we're on the third bottle!"

"Good thing you're obscenely rich, Malfoy!" Hermione laughed as she grabbed the bottle from his hand and poured more wine in her glass.

Draco laughed in return before snatching the bottle out of her hand and pouring more into his own glass.

"Cheers to us for getting the information to win this case!"

"Cheers!"

A glass each later the hilarity of earlier had disappeared to be replaced with a quieter more contemplative state of mind for each of them. Draco couldn't seem to quit staring at Hermione's legs in her tight pencil skirt, her feet once again wearing those peep toed heels that screamed 'shag me'. And Merlin, did he want to shag her at the moment. All week he had been teased by those heels of hers and the wine only seemed to heighten his sense of them.

As for Hermione, she couldn't seem to look away from the expanse of skin that was visible from Draco untying his tie and unbuttoning the first few buttons of his white oxford shirt. The wine only seemed to increase her awareness of it and she longed to reach out and touch the almost translucent hair that dusted skin that was bared to her eyes.

After taking another swallow of her wine, Hermione reached out with two fingers and brushed them against the bare skin revealed by his unbuttoned shirt. Draco's eyes shot down to her fingers then to the witch's brown eyes. She stared up into his grey eyes boldy and slipped her hand up his neck and to the back of his neck. Even though she pulled his head down to hers it wasn't really necessary, he had already been moving to do so.

When their lips met, the spark that had been within the both of them ignited, causing the two of them to make quite the scene in the middle of the hotel's bar. There they were, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, clinging to each other and devouring each other's mouths for everyone within the bar to see.

They vaguely heard the bar tender say 'get a room' as they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes once again. No words were needed. Draco grabbed her hand within his as Hermione finished off the last of her wine and then he was leading them out of the bar and towards the lift.

Once the doors of the lift shut behind them Draco pushed Hermione up against the wall, his hands on her waist, and captured her lips with his once again. Hermione moaned as his gently bit her lip, granting him the access he had been seeking into her mouth. Her moans increased as his tongue met hers and she slid one hand up into his hair and the other to his back, pulling his body closer to hers.

Draco grunted and moved one hand to lift Hermione's left leg up and over his hip so he could grind against her. Their lips broke away as they both moaned wantonly as Draco continued to grind his hips into hers.

They were interrupted by the lift as the doors opened onto their floor. Grabbing her hand once again, Draco led her down the hall and to his room, which happened to be much closer to the lift than hers. After opening the door, the two hustled inside, Hermione heading for the bed as Draco shut and locked the door behind them.

Xxx

**Saturday January 6, 2007**

Hermione's eyes snapped open as a ray of light filtered in through the blinds and landed on her face. She then became aware of a few things in that moment. Her mouth tasted horrible, her head was pounding, and she was snuggled up to something warm and strangely male like. Impossible, she'd been sleeping alone for two years now. At this realization, flashes of memories from the night before ran through her head.

Her and Malfoy leaving Hartley Manor triumphant. Her and Malfoy going to the hotel bar. Her and Malfoy drinking their first glass of wine. Her and Malfoy steadily getting drunk after numerous glasses of wine. Her and Malfoy kissing in the bar for all to see. Her and Malfoy dry humping in the lift. And finally her and Malfoy having sex in his hotel room!

What the bloody hell had she allowed to happen! She never got drunk! So why had she allowed herself to last night? It was all Ginny's fault. She had wanted Hermione to enjoy her time in France, and last night drinking that delicious wine had seemed to be her best option given she had been holed up in that bloody library all week. But that was the least of her worries at the moment; so she had a hangover, big deal. The more important problem here was the fact that she had had sex with Draco Malfoy!

She had never had sex with anyone other than Ron, and that had even been after her marriage! Yes, she had contemplated having sex with Oliver Wood, but she couldn't in good conscious have sex with someone she didn't have an emotional connection to. But apparently, those rules did not apply to drunk Hermione.

She had to get out of here before he woke up; there was no way she could face him in the light of morning. It was going to be bad enough when she had to see him at work. The only thing she could do was hope that he had been drunk enough not to remember what they had done. After all, he had been drunk enough to have sex with her, so that gave her hope he wouldn't remember at all.

Hermione quietly slipped from the bed and searched around the room for her scattered clothes. She dressed hurriedly and slipped from the room with a sigh of relief. Once she cleaned herself up, she packed her things, grabbed her portkey and decided to do a little bit of shopping before it was due to activate in a few hours. She had to buy cheese and wine for Ginny so she wouldn't ask too many questions about what happened, because Hermione wasn't sure if she could lie to her convincingly.

Xxx

Draco woke to a pounding head and a foul mouth. What the bloody hell had happened last night? He sat up in bed slowly and realized that he was naked. His clothes were strewn around the room in a fashion that clued him to what exactly had happened the night before. He'd shagged someone, but who? And where were they now?

Then he suddenly started to remember bits and pieces of the night before. He'd been drinking with Granger in the hotel bar, but surely it was not she who he had shagged? But then as he glanced down at his dress shirt at the side of the bed he noticed a lipstick stain on the collar. He would know that color anywhere; Hermione had worn it all week.

Bloody hell, he had shagged Hermione Granger and he didn't even remember it!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**I have changed my settings to allow anonymous reviews, however, I am still rather wary of that and may decide to change it back depending on what people decide to say anonymously. I am also about to change the story rating to M just to be on the safe side. Thanks again for all the reviews and alerts.  
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**Monday January 15, 2007**

Thankfully Hermione had been able to avoid Draco in the office last week thanks to her reduced hours courtesy of the partners in order for her adjustment into her new classes at night. But this week she was back to normal hours and that meant a heightened risk of running into Draco.

However, she had high hopes that she could at least put off an encounter for a little while longer. She had been asked to do extensive research for Greengrass and therefore was currently unavailable to the other lawyers in the firm as she went about doing research for this high profile and priority case.

Thankfully no one had suspected that anything had happened between her and Malfoy on their trip. As far as Ginny was concerned Hermione had enjoyed wine and cheese in France when not researching and had brought back some excellent selections for the Potters' enjoyment.

Thankfully Rose and Scorpius seemed to be satisfied with their time at day care the last week because Rose had not begged for a sleepover or for Scorpius to come over which was a relief to her. But she was sure that it was only a matter of time before the request came. The kids had gone a few weeks without a sleepover together. It was inevitable, she knew, but sometime she was going to have to look Malfoy in the eyes again. Hopefully he didn't remember it at all.

Xxx

He should have known it was a set up. He had managed to avoid Blaise and his questions for a week, but today he had given in to his request for lunch. He had been very hungry and Blaise had mentioned one of his favorite bistros. However, it was a clever ruse on Blaise's part.

"So, you never did fill me in on what all happened in France beside the fact that you and Granger got the information you went for." Blaise started casually, stirring his tea slowly with a spoon as he watched Draco's face closely.

Blaise was no idiot; something had happened. Why else had Draco purposely avoided him all last week? Even going lengths to sneak past his office door? Did Draco think he was that dim?

Draco sighed. It had been inevitable that Blaise found out eventually. Thankfully Granger had been avoiding him as he had been avoiding Blaise, so at least he hadn't had to face her yet. However, he was pretty sure she believed that he didn't remember, but her avoidance told him that she remembered.

"Granger and I got pretty drunk our last night there." Draco said quietly, not wanting anyone around them to hear what they were talking about. It didn't matter to him that they were in a muggle bistro, where no one would know who he or Granger were anyway.

"Did you? And what happened?"

"I think you bloody well know what happened with that little smirk on your idiotic face." Draco sniped.

"No need to be testy, Draco." Blaise chuckled. "So how was it?"

"I don't remember the details."

"You don't remember the details? How drunk were you?"

"Pretty drunk; I only remember the two of us getting drunk and then finding myself alone and naked in bed the next morning with Granger's lipstick on my collar."

"Are you sure it was Granger's?"

"I'd been staring at her lips all week, so yes, I am pretty sure it was Granger. Plus, her avoidance this week further confirms that it was her and that she remembers what happened."

Blaise couldn't help the grin that stole over his lips. This was just too good. "You finally shag her after having numerous wet dreams about her and you can't even remember the details?"

"Sod off, Blaise."

Blaise chuckled, "So, does Granger think you don't remember?"

"I'm sure she's probably hoping I don't."

"And you haven't seen her since?"

"No, and I don't know how I should handle when we do run into each other, which is inevitable with our children's friendship."

Blaise nodded, "Act like you don't remember, otherwise she'll be too awkward around you and it may screw up the friendship between Scorp and Rose."

"I don't want that to happen."

"Me either; Rose is such a sweet girl and so good for Scorp."

"Agreed."

"In the mean time it looks like you're back to washing your sheets more frequently."

Xxx

Their inevitable encounter finally arrived later that afternoon as Hermione stepped out of the fireplace of the burrow to see Draco still there. All last week she had deliberately been a few minutes late to pick up Rose to give Draco time to collect Scorpius and get out of the Burrow before she arrived. But today she had apparently not waited long enough.

However, as Hermione looked closer at the scene before her she saw that Scorpius was clinging on to Rose's hand and would not let go, no matter what Draco said to him or the tugging he was doing on his little arm to let Rose's hand go.

"What's going on here?" Hermione asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Scorpius doesn't want to leave Rose." Molly replied from where she stood behind Rose as an onlooker. "They've been stuck like glue together all day, more than normal because Rose hasn't felt good."

Hermione immediately rushed to her daughter at those words and placed a hand on her forehead. Her forehead was warm to the touch.

"I've already given her a potion, Hermione." Molly assured her. "She needs to go home, have some soup, and go to bed and she should be better by morning."

"Hear that, Scorp?" Draco asked, "Rose is going to be just fine. But now she needs to go home with her Mom so she can feel better to see you tomorrow."

"No!"

"Listen to your Daddy, Scorp." Rose said quietly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

At her words Scorpius reluctantly let go of her hand. Draco quickly took his chance to pick Scorpius up and faced Hermione.

"Take care of her, Granger." He smiled and then sent Rose an even warmer smile before he turned and stepped into the fireplace.

Xxx

**Friday January 19, 2007**

After what had happened Monday it was obvious to both parents that Rose and Scorpius were in need of a sleepover given that they hadn't really had once since before Christmas. And if they were ever going to successfully plan things for their children, Hermione needed to get over her awkwardness with Draco. It was obvious that he had no idea that anything had happened between them in France, so she needed to act as if nothing had happened either.

So that's why she left her research and headed for his office.

"Granger, what can I do for you?" Draco asked curiously as Hermione appeared in his doorway.

"I think the children are due for a sleepover don't you?"

"Agreed. Who's turn was it?"

"I think it was mine, however, things are a little different now given that I have classes from eight until ten." Hermione replied.

"Well, who was going to watch Rose for you while you were gone tonight?"

"Molly was going to come but she informed me that she couldn't this morning, so I was going to ask Ginny later."

"Well, don't bother; I'll pop over and be there while the kids are sleeping until you get home; that way we can keep up with the sleepover pattern."

"Alright, sounds good."

Xxx

When Draco arrived at Hermione's around seven thirty, the kids were still awake and watching another one of those animated movies on her TV.

"They weren't tired, but make sure you get them in bed when this movie is over." Hermione informed Draco as she shrugged on her robes and grabbed her bag from the floor.

"Will do. Have a good class." Draco replied as he watched Hermione step into the floo with a handful of powder.

Once she was gone, Draco joined the kids on the couch and became engrossed in the animated movie about talking toys. By the time the movie ended both kids were asleep on the couch snuggled up against each other. Smiling to himself, Draco carefully picked up Rose and headed into her bedroom to tuck her into bed. Once she was settled, he fetched Scorpius and tucked him into the little bed that seemed to be attached to the bottom of Rose's.

Carefully shutting her door behind him, Draco headed back to the living room to find something to do for the next hour or so until Hermione returned from class. He headed to her bookcase first noticing right away the number of romance novels that were tucked alongside all of her texts from school. Smirking, Draco grabbed the one with a bookmark sticking out of the top and went to sit down on the recliner.

Cracking the book open to the well worn bookmarked page he started to read.

_Rafe pulled Scarlett up against his hard male body, his throbbing manhood pressing against her soft belly causing both of them to moan simultaneously._

"_Rafe." Scarlett breathed against the dark man's lips._

"_You're mine." Rafe growled as he captured her lips within his own and pushed her up against the wall._

_Scarlett's legs instinctively moved up to wrap around his waist and her arms curled around his neck tighter as Rafe moved so his manhood rubbed against her soft feminine core._

"_Take me." _

Draco snapped the book shut quickly, not wanting to read any further for fear of getting an erection. This was the type of stuff Hermione Granger read in her spare time? He wanted to punch himself in the face for not being able to remember what had happened during their sexual encounter in France. If she read this type of material she was bound to be passionate in bed.

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Granger seeking him out today showed him that she was moving past her awkwardness and pretending nothing had happened. Of course, she probably thought he had no idea of what had transpired between them. And it was going to have to stay that way; she was Hermione Granger and he was Draco Malfoy.

He sat there silently for a few more minutes before he picked the book up again and flipped to the first page. Then, before he knew it he was sitting in Hermione Granger's living room reading one of her smutty romance novels. What had happened to his life?

He had just finished reading the romance novel when the floo ignited and Hermione stepped out of the fireplace. Her eyes landed on Draco immediately, but thankfully she did not seem to notice the romance novel still in his hand.

"How was class?" Draco asked pleasantly.

"Brilliant." Hermione replied with a smile causing Draco to grin at the familiar bookworm Hermione Granger he had known back in their Hogwarts days. The days before he started to have wet dreams about her.

"Did you have any trouble getting them to bed?"

Draco shook his head, "They fell asleep by the end of the movie and I just carried them in and tucked them in. I haven't heard a peep since."

"Great, I'm exhausted. Thanks again for staying here with them."

"No problem, Granger. I'll see you around noon when I pick up Scorp."

Xxx

_The lights in his office were dim as he stared down at the file before him uncomprehendingly. Frustrated, he slammed the file shut and ran a hand through his blond hair. Sitting alone in silence, he was startled when the door suddenly opened and Granger walked into his office, closing the door behind her quietly. His eyes raked over her as she moved towards his desk in her tight pencil skirt, low cut blouse, and those peep toed heels of hers. _

"_Need any help with that file, Draco? I know it can be a bit difficult to take care of by yourself" She asked, her voice husky as she came around his desk to stand right before him._

"_It is rather hard." Draco replied, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her down onto his lap._

"_I can help with that." Hermione breathed before she crushed her lips to his, her hands wandering down to his belt._

_As she began to unfasten his belt, his fingers worked at the buttons of her blouse until he parted the sides to reveal her bare breasts. Breaking from their kiss, Draco stared down at her bared breasts as she unzipped his trousers and stuck her hand down there grabbing his—_

"Draco!"

"What the bloody hell?" Draco shrieked, bolting upright in bed.

Standing there in his bedroom looking down at him was none other than Blaise Zabini. He should have known. Only Blaise would barge into his bedroom without knocking first.

"What are you doing here?"

"You invited me over; we're going to get Scorp and then we're going for lunch."

"Oh yes…of course."

A look of realization came over Blaise's face as he took in the sight of his friend's flustered face, "Hold it a second. You were having a dream weren't you?"

Draco didn't reply and instead threw back his covers angrily. Blaise laughed; that had been all the answer he needed.

"Was it about Granger?"

"Of course it was!" Draco answered from his bathroom. "I found her trashy romance novels last night and read one."

"Granger reads smutty romance novels?"

"Apparently, and obviously it fueled my dreams."

"It fueled something; that's for sure." Blaise chuckled.

"Sod off."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Yet again I cannot remember when it was I last posted so I figured it was probably time. And thanks again for all the support for this story.**

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**Saturday February 3, 2007**

Today was, thankfully, a girl's day. Hermione was in desperate need of one. And even better: today was an adult girl's day. Lately their girl's days had been dominated by their daughters, but today Hermione and Ginny were leaving Rose and Lilly home with Harry and the boys so they could go have a good adult girl time.

They had already hit up a few clothes shops where instead of buying clothes for their children they actually shopped for themselves, modeling new outfits for each other and buying clothes they probably wouldn't have an occasion to wear any time soon. Hermione certainly had not needed that red dress, but Ginny had convinced her to buy it anyway.

But the need for food finally had the girls leaving the shops and heading for one of their favorite restaurants.

"We have to get that double chocolate cookie ice cream surprise for dessert, Hermione. I've been craving chocolate all day." Ginny said desperately as she eyed up the dessert menu before the girls had even ordered their lunches. "It's that time of the month you know."

Hermione nodded her head sympathetically. She knew how that went; when it was her time of the month she craved chocolate and salt alternatively. One minute she would be chowing down on chocolate pudding and the next she would be eating pretzels, and then she would be dipping her pretzels into the pudding.

That's when Hermione's eyes widened. Holy mother of Merlin! She hadn't had her period in January! Unaware of the panic going on in Hermione's head, Ginny was perusing the lunch menu for her best lunch option, but when she finally looked up it was to see Hermione's frantic eyes as she pulled her calendar out of her purse.

Ginny's brow wrinkled in confusion as she watched her friend flip through the pages desperately until landing on what she was looking for. And then Hermione seemed to go limp as she collapsed back into the bench seat, staring at Ginny with eyes full of fear.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Gin…I…I never miss it…I've always been regular…oh my…"

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked desperately.

"I missed my period."

Ginny's mouth dropped open, "Are you suggesting that you're pregnant? But you haven't had-"

"Yes, I have."

"What?"

"Shh!" Hermione cried frantically looking around to make sure no one was watching the two of them or listening in on their conversation. Thankfully no one seemed interested in what was going on in their corner of the restaurant.

"Hermione, what happened?"

"In France, Malfoy and I got drunk." Hermione whispered.

Ginny gasped, "No! Are you messing with me right now?"

"Do you not see the look of panic on my face right now, Gin? Would I joke about something like this?"

"But how?"

"We were drunk celebrating on our last night and things got carried away. Next thing I knew I woke up in bed next to him, naked. I ducked out of there as soon as I could."

"Well, maybe you aren't pregnant."

"Maybe, but I've always been regular and on time, Gin. And I haven't been on the potion since shortly after Ron's death. And I'm pretty sure we were both too drunk to cast the contraceptive spell."

"Shit."

"Shit is right."

The two sat in silence for a while, which was only broken by the waiter coming back to take their order. The two of them ordered solemnly and once the waiter was gone they turned back to the matter at hand.

"After this we'll go back to your place and I'll perform the spell on you." Ginny said. "Then we'll know for sure and we can decide what to do from there."

Hermione nodded; it was all they could do for now.

After their lunches were eaten the two of them skipped dessert and headed to Hermione's. Ginny was too frazzled at the moment to be craving chocolate as passionately as she had before. Of course by the time night came around she would be longing for that dessert, but there were much bigger matters at hand at the moment.

"Alright, just do it Gin." Hermione insisted once they stood in Hermione's living room.

Lifting up her shirt, Hermione watched as Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it hesitantly at Hermione's stomach. In that moment Hermione was reminded of the day years ago when she and Ron had stood in a similar position and found out that Rose was on her way. That had been so different; they had been scared, but so excited at the same time. This time Hermione was only filled with fear.

Hermione shut her eyes in fear, not wanting to see what color her stomach would glow. Taking a breath Ginny cast the spell and watched as Hermione's stomach glowed gold.

"You're pregnant, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes snapped open just in time to see the gold slowly fade away as the spell dissipated. It was true; she was pregnant with Draco Malfoy's child. At that point Hermione broke down into tears.

Ginny wrapped Hermione in her arms immediately, holding her close as her friend sobbed into her shoulder.

Once she had cried herself out, Hermione pulled away from Ginny and wiped her eyes.

"I have to tell him Gin, this is his baby too. And we will decide what to do together."

"You wouldn't get rid of the baby would you?"

"Of course not! I just need to find out if he's interested in being a part of this child's life."

Xxx

**Sunday February 4, 2007**

_Draco,_

_I know this is last minute and completely out of the blue, but I need to speak to you about something of great importance this afternoon. If you and Scorpius could come to my house, Ginny will take the kids out to ice cream so the two of us can speak in peace._

_Sincerely, _

_Hermione _

Draco was puzzled. What did Hermione have to talk to him about that the kids couldn't be around for? She wasn't going to bring up the night in France was she? She had seemed way too embarrassed about it to say anything at all, so why after all this time was she going to bring it back up? But maybe it didn't have to do with that at all, maybe it was a sensitive issue about work or about the children that she couldn't risk them hearing.

Regardless of what it was, he penned a letter back saying he and Scorpius would be there in a few hours. He spent those two hours continuing to wonder what was going on and judging by her serious face when he and Scorpius stepped out the fireplace he knew it was something serious.

Scorpius and Rose rushed to greet each other excitedly talking about ice cream and Aunt Ginny. Sure enough Draco noticed Potter's wife come around the corner and take a hand of each child. After sending a reassuring smile to Hermione, Ginny ushered the kids into the fireplace.

"Thank you for coming." Hermione stated formally once the flames in the fireplace had died down.

"No problem." Draco replied taking a seat on the couch as Hermione indicated with a sweep of her hand.

Taking a deep steadying breath, Hermione sat down on the couch next to him and turned to him. Noticing her hands were shaking, she clasped them together and rested them in between her legs. She still hadn't figured out the best way to come out with this information, but maybe the best way was just to be blunt about it.

"I don't know if you remember, but we had sex our last night in France and I found out I was pregnant yesterday." Hermione said suddenly, completely catching Draco off guard.

Her stared at her with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open unable to produce any coherent words at the moment. He knew they had had sex! But pregnant! Surely she was mistaken, but this was Granger; she wouldn't present information without being absolutely sure it was the truth.

"Pregnant?" He finally stuttered.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "I realized I missed my period last month and Ginny preformed the spell on me to confirm I was pregnant yesterday."

Draco ran a hand through his blond hair, "I was too bloody drunk to cast the contraceptive spell."

"And I haven't been on the potion since shortly after Ron died."

Draco nodded mutely. Of course she wasn't. She probably hadn't had sex since Weasley died and he had probably been the only guy she had ever had sex with. And then there he came in getting her drunk and getting her pregnant.

"I plan on keeping the baby and I just need to know how much you want to be in its life." Hermione said, breaking through his thoughts.

"Of course I want to be in its life!" Draco cried passionately. "I never thought I'd have another child after Scorpius."

"Me either after Ron died."

The two sat in silence for what felt like hours but was really a matter of minutes. During those minutes Draco decided something.

"We have to marry."

"What?" Hermione yelled.

"We can't have a baby out of wedlock, Granger."

"This is the twenty first century; we wouldn't be the first wizard and witch in this situation."

"But you're forgetting about Rose and Scorpius. What will this mean for them? They'll share a sibling, but not really be related themselves? You've seen them; they practically act like brother and sister anyway and would love if they got to live with each other and have a little sibling together! If we didn't marry what would other kids say to them when they got to Hogwarts?"

As Hermione considered what Draco had just said she had to admit he was right. It was a tricky situation. If they didn't have Rose and Scorpius to consider, having this baby and sharing custody would be their best option. But as parents already, they knew that their children always came first.

"They come first." Hermione agreed solemnly. "But what do we tell others?"

"The truth; we won't be the first to marry because I got you pregnant."

It would definitely be different than her first marriage; that for sure. That marriage had been built on love and friendship and this one would be built on the happiness of their children.

"How will this work?" Hermione asked.

"We'll marry soon and move into my house in Wiltshire."

"No! I will not live in that manor!" Hermione cried hotly.

Draco shook his head, "That's my Mother's house. I own a much smaller house in the countryside. My flat is too small for all of us, and I think its best that we not start this marriage in the house you had your old one."

Hermione nodded; he was absolutely right, but as she looked around the living room she had raised Rose for the last four years a wave of sadness overwhelmed her. But what could she do? There was no time turner for her this time and now she and Draco would have to face the consequences of their actions.

"Let's take this step by step," Draco started, "we'll go to St. Mungo's to confirm the pregnancy first. Then we'll sit down the children and explain the situation to them the best we can. Next we'll go to the Ministry for a civil ceremony and then we'll move into my house in Wiltshire."

Hermione was happy that Draco was taking the reins in this because at the moment her emotions were all over the place, leaving her too much of a wreck to think of all the logical steps in this endeavor they were about to begin.

"What about our parents?" Hermione gasped, feeling completely ashamed of herself at the thought of telling her parents that she had gotten pregnant outside the bonds of marriage.

"We'll tell them before we go to the Ministry. They'll have to understand; we are doing the right thing in the eyes of their generation."

"True." Hermione agreed. "But that doesn't make it any easier."

Xxx

**Monday February 5, 2007**

The first step in their endeavor was to make sure Hermione was really pregnant. The spell Ginny had preformed was much more reliable than muggle pregnancy tests, but there was always room for error. And it was also a good idea to determine where she was in the pregnancy and begin prenatal care as soon as possible.

However, at this point until the pregnancy was confirmed by a Healer, both Draco and Hermione weren't allowing themselves to think much past this point. Once it was confirmed they would be faced with sitting their parents and children down, but first things first.

Hermione and Draco had both ducked out of the office for a long lunch to St. Mungo's where they nonchalantly made their way to the proper wing of the hospital. Thankfully no one had paid much attention to the odd couple and they had made it into an exam room without notice.

"Ah Hermione, it's good to see you!" Healer Watson smiled as she entered the room. "How is Rose lately?"

"Wonderful; she's going to be five this year." Hermione replied.

"I can't believe it's been five years since I delivered that adorable red headed girl of yours! Now, who is this with you?"

"This is…this is…"

"Draco Malfoy." Draco interrupted, holding his hand out to the healer.

Healer Watson smiled warmly at Draco and shook his hand before she turned back to Hermione with a knowing look. Healer Watson had been in the baby business for over thirty years so she was pretty sure she knew what was going on between the blond and brunette, but it wasn't her place to make assumptions.

"So, what brings you two here today?"

"My friend preformed the pregnancy spell on me and it was positive."

Healer Watson nodded and pulled out her own wand. She quickly preformed the same spell, yielding the same result Ginny had. Draco watched in fascination as Hermione's stomach glowed gold; he had missed out on all the wonders of pregnancy with Astoria since she had moved home so her mother could take care of her for the nine months. He had wanted to witness everything, but she had insisted and he had been left alone until he was called and told his son had been born.

"Well, let's see if we can find the fetus in there." Healer Watson explained as she waved her wand, causing Hermione's belly to project an image onto the wall in front of where she lay. All three of them turned to the image, Draco and Hermione in wonder, and Healer Watson with a practiced eye.

"See that little thing right there?" Healer Watson asked pointing to what appeared to be a small mass on the projected image. "That's your baby."

"Wow." Draco breathed, unable to take his eyes off the mass on the wall.

Hermione was in a similar state; she had forgotten how amazing it was creating a new life. She felt tears fill her eyes and looked over to see Draco in a similar state. His reaction filled her with relief; at least if he was excited it would make this whole marriage much easier.

"Now it's too early for much else at this point, but come back in a few months and we'll be ready to hear the heart beat and find out the sex!"

Xxx

"Well, this is happening, Granger."

"Hermione. If we're going to have a baby together and get married we have to call each other by our first names, Draco."

"Right." Draco agreed. "Now to tell our parents and our children."

"The kids will definitely be easier and they may help our case with our parents if they know first."

"Smart, Hermione, let's do that."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

* * *

**Friday February 9, 2007**

Their discussion with their children had been a rather easy affair. Although by the time it was over, neither Hermione nor Draco were really sure if the two of them had grasped what they had been trying to explain to them. Both children seemed to understand that they would be living together in a few weeks, which was the point of excitement for them. Hermione was sure Rose understood that Hermione and Draco were marrying, but neither child grasped the fact that Hermione was going to have a baby. Rose had been around pregnant women before and Hermione was sure that once there was tangible proof, Rose would have an idea of what was to come. They still had a while before she started to show noticeably though.

Tonight, they had decided, would be the night they confronted both sets of parents about the situation. They had invited Narcissa over to Draco's flat for dinner where they would tell her and then they would head to Hermione's parent's house for dessert to deliver the news. As for Draco's Father; Draco had penned him a letter that had been sent off by owl shortly before his mother arrived for dinner.

"So this is Scorpius' Rose!" Narcissa smiled as she looked down upon the red headed girl standing next to her Grandson. Narcissa immediately recognized the girl as part Weasley, but she was pleased to see that the girl possessed traits of her Mother. And if what Draco said was true, the girl contained the best part of her mother: her intelligence.

When Narcissa had found out about Scorpius' friendship she had at first been skeptical. Not because the girl was part Weasley or a halfblood, but because she knew how her Grandson could behave. Thankfully though, the girl had rubbed off on him and as his Grandmother she was thankful for the friendship.

"Hi." Rose smiled up at Narcissa.

"Hello Mother." Draco greeted as he planted a kiss on his mother's cheek. "I see you've met Rose."

"Yes, she's a darling girl."

"And Mother, this is Rose's mother, Hermione."

Narcissa turned and smiled warmly at Hermione, who looked uncomfortable and hesitant of meeting the woman who had watched on as her sister tortured her all those years ago.

Those were difficult times for all and Hermione was trying to push those thoughts away. Draco had proved he was worthy of a second chance, so Hermione had to give his mother the chance; especially since she was going to be the Grandmother to her unborn child.

"Hermione, your daughter is darling."

"Thank you."

"I quite like the shade of red her hair is. It's unlike most of the Weasleys that I've noticed."

Hermione nodded, "Her Aunt Ginny has a similar shade, but it's certainly not like her Father's was."

"And Draco tells me how well she reads already!" Narcissa praised. "I hope that rubs off on Scorpius."

Hermione chuckled, "With all the stories Rose reads to him I'm sure he'll catch on eventually."

Draco was pleased to see that as the conversation between Hermione and his Mother, Hermione had relaxed. He knew she had plenty of reasons to be nervous, hell he was too! However, Hermione had a lot more to be nervous about in meeting his Mother.

As for himself, he honestly had no idea how his mother would react to the news. He knew his Father would be absolutely furious with him, but since he was in Azkaban Draco didn't have to worry about him and his reaction at all.

"Hungry!" Scorpius cried, drawing Draco back into the present.

"Dinner time." Draco confirmed. "Hermione was nice enough to cook for us here with what has become a favorite of Scorpius' in his adventures at Rose's house. I hope you'll enjoy it, Mother, it's a little different than you're used to."

"I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be quite alright." Narcissa assured him with a smile in Hermione direction.

A few minutes later the five of them sat down to their meatloaf, potatoes, and green beans. Draco had never had meatloaf before, and just like his mother he cautiously lifted a bite to his mouth. Scorpius was digging in with gusto, as was Rose, and to a lesser degree Hermione. Draco caught his Mother's eye and together they took their first bite of meat loaf.

"That's quite tasty actually." Narcissa announced. "What makes up a meatloaf, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled, "Normally people use ground beef, but I prefer to use ground turkey and ground sausage to give it a little spice."

"It's delicious." Draco added before scooping up another bite. "I can see why Scorpius was raving about it."

"He just likes to dump ketchup on it like Rose does." Hermione rolled her eyes and pointed to the gobs of ketchup that the kids had put on their meatloaf. Hermione also used ketchup, but not in the huge piles like the kids.

"I might have to try some of that." Narcissa said and then directed her attention to the kids, "Is it good with ketchup?"

"Mmmhmm; it yummy!" Scorpius responded eagerly.

Once their plates were cleared and sent to the kitchen to clean themselves with some magic, the kids went off to play in Scorpius' room leaving the three adults alone. It was time for the discussion.

"So, there's something the two of you invited me here for." Narcissa began for the two of them. "I can sense it, so we best get to it."

"Yes, well," Draco began, "Hermione is pregnant with my child and we've decided it is best for the children that we marry soon."

Narcissa's eyebrows shot towards the ceiling at the news, but her face remained impassive, showing no emotion. She let Draco and Hermione squirm for a minute before her face was transformed by a little grin.

"Another Grandchild for me then? Excellent." Narcissa stated. "And I'm proud of you, Draco, for doing the right thing by Hermione."

"So, you're not mad?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"Why would I be mad? You two are responsible adults and are doing the responsible thing. I cannot tell either of you how to live your lives anyway and if you do decide to change your minds all I ask is for rights to see my Grandchild."

"Of course!" Hermione rushed to assure her. "No matter what happens, you'll always have access to this child. However, we decided it is in Rose and Scorpius' future interests that we marry and become one family."

"Less confusion and talk when they get to Hogwarts."

"Of course; children can be vicious gossips." Narcissa agreed. "When will you two marry?"

"Next week in the ministry." Draco replied. "And then we'll be moving into my house in Wiltshire."

"I'll have it prepared for you; I'm sure a lot of dust has accumulated since your last visit."

"Thank you Mother, for everything."

"Keep me up to date on the baby please."

"Of course."

Xxx

With Narcissa out of the way in such a pleasant manner, Hermione and Draco wrangled the kids together and headed to Hermione's parent's house feeling a little less anxious about the whole thing. Hermione's parents had always been the understanding sort and were not prone to dramatics, so she was not too concerned with their reactions.

The kids were excited to see that Jean had made sugar cookies especially for them, shaped like stars, and had vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup to go with them. Hermione eagerly partook in all the dessert items, remembering how heavenly the combination tasted from her childhood. Her parents had never let her have regular candy, but ice cream and cookies were things that were always allowed in the Granger house: in moderation of course.

"Mrs. Granger, these cookies are brilliant." Draco said after devouring one whole star cookie in less than ten seconds.

His son obviously took after him because he had finished his cookie just as fast. By the time everyone else had finished their desserts Draco and Scorpius had eaten six cookies between them and with a stern look Jean went to put the cookies away.

"Good luck getting Scorpius to bed tonight." Hermione chuckled as she watched Scorpius lick the last of the cookie crumbs off of his fingers.

"I have magic on my side." Draco said confidently.

"Magic or not, Draco, that was way too many cookies for a three year old at this time of the night." Hermione stated as her mother nodded on in agreement.

"Okay, so what brings you kids here tonight?" Albert asked from where he had sat mostly in silence since they arrived.

"Yes, I could tell from your tone on the phone that you have something to say to your Father and I tonight."

Hermione nodded and turned to Rose, "Rose, honey, why don't you show Scorpius your play room upstairs?"

"Okay!"

With that said, the two kids were off like a shot, the sound of their feet pounding up the staircase echoing throughout the house. Once the pounding stopped the four adults were left alone in silence, staring at each other curiously.

"Well, Mom, Dad, I'm pregnant." Hermione began, deciding that bluntness was the best way to go about this. "And Draco is the Father."

Jean gasped, "Honey, that's wonderful! I didn't realize you and Draco had something like that going on!"

Hermione shook her head, "We don't-didn't."

Her mother's brow wrinkled in confusion and a quick glance at her Dad showed that he was glaring at Draco openly. If Draco noticed the stare he didn't show it, instead he stood next to Hermione offering her support without saying anything.

"Draco and I had a business trip together and things happened. The details aren't important. But now I am pregnant and Draco and I have decided that it is for the best that we marry."

"Bloody right you better make an honest woman out of my Hermione." Albert groused from where he sat.

"Of course, sir. We plan on going to the Ministry next week to get married, then we'll be moving into my house in Wiltshire."

"So you're marrying simply because of the baby?" Jean frowned.

"Yes."

"Is that a good idea?"

"It is. Not just for the baby, but for Rose and Scorpius. How would we explain to them that they share a sibling without being actual siblings themselves? They're practically brother and sister as it is, so we might as well make it official."

"But what about your happiness and Draco's for that matter? Is marriage really the best solution?" Jean asked worriedly.

Hermione hadn't been expecting this out of her Mother. Her Father's reaction was exactly what she was expecting and she owed that all to the generation he came from. Yet, her Mother was from the same generation and here she was questioning the entire situation.

"Mom, it's alright. Draco and I get along and we'll make the best of this situation."

Draco nodded, "I'll take care of Hermione and honestly, Mrs. Granger I am beyond thrilled to be having another child. I never thought I would have another child."

"Neither did Hermione." Jean stated. "Well, I'll trust your judgment; you two are both adults. Just know that your Father and I are always here for you and the children; all three of them."

Draco smiled at that, knowing that her parents had already accepted Scorpius made him feel so much better about the entire situation. It was clear to him that his unborn child would have wonderful Grandparents in the Grangers and he was sure that that courtesy would be extended to Scorpius.

Xxx

**Wednesday February 14, 2007**

"Bloody hell I just realized it is Valentine's Day." Draco sighed as he knotted his tie in front of his full length mirror.

Blaise laughed from his position lounging on Draco's bed. "The people at the Ministry will believe you two are madly in love getting married on Valentine's Day."

"It was the only day that worked for the both of us, her parents, and my Mother." Draco stated, "I wanted it to just be Hermione and I, but both Jean and my Mother insisted on being there and watching the children for us over night."

"What do they think you two will be up to tonight?" Blaise chuckled.

"Probably think we'll have a normal wedding night."

"What are you two going to do?"

"It's a Wednesday night."

"You two got the rest of the week off once the partners found out, so why should what day of the week it is stop you from doing something? Take her to France or something. Granger deserves that after you knocked her up. You probably won't get sex out of it, but you can at least have a relaxing vacation."

"True." Draco agreed. "I wonder what the rest of my life is going to be like. I can't help but wonder if Hermione will ever let me touch her like that again."

"If you two share a bed she'll find out about your dreams sooner or later, and when she does I want all the details."

"Sod off, Zabini."

"In all seriousness, Draco, if you play your cards right you can woo Granger. You two are going to be together until the kids are all grown at least, so it would be only natural that you two developed feelings for each other. But one of you has to kick start the process, and given the fact that you have been lusting after her for a while now, you should obviously be the one to do so."

"You're right." Draco smiled. "However, I can't take her away for the rest of the week. She doesn't have class tonight because her professor has to take his wife out, but she does the rest of the week."

"Well, then take her over night! That's better than nothing and it shows that you are trying."

"When the hell did you get so knowledgeable about this stuff?"

Blaise shrugged, "It's Jackie; she brings out the romantic in me."

"Serious huh?"

"I think so. But enough about me, we have to get to the Ministry and to your future wife!"

Xxx

The Ministry official was obviously surprised when he saw the two people he was about to unite in marriage. However, he was a professional and was able to quickly conceal his surprise in marrying two famous enemies from years ago. He had learned long ago not to question people when they came to get married at the Ministry. It was usually drama filled and some people did not know the meaning of being discreet in sharing personal information.

As the official began the process of marrying the two, their parents stood behind them, holding on to their children. Rose held Jean's hand as she stared at her Mother, who she thought looked beautiful in her peach colored dress. Scorpius, while hanging on to Narcissa's hand, was staring off into space, completely unaware of what was going around of him and not caring either.

"I now pronounce you man and wife by the power of the Ministry of Magic, you may kiss your witch."

Facing each other, Draco offered Hermione a small smile before bending down and brushing his lips with hers lightly. Then together, they turned to face their family as an official married couple.

"Did you take the Malfoy name, Hermione?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"It's Granger- Malfoy." Hermione replied.

Hermione had been willing to lose her maiden name when she married Ron, but this marriage was entirely different. She wanted the comfort her last name provided and Draco had not minded one bit. He still planned on calling her Granger now and then anyway.

"So Narcissa said she wanted a chance to bond with Rose, so she's going to take the kids tonight." Jean stated.

"Okay." Hermione nodded.

"Yes, you two go on and enjoy your night. Jean gave me Rose's bag and the kids and I are going to have a blast tonight." Narcissa assured her. "Also, I arranged for everything to be moved into the house at Wiltshire while we were here, so everything should be set for you two to go there tonight if you want."

Xxx

At Hermione's request, after separating from their children and parents, he took Hermione to what was now their house. She hadn't seen it before, but had been assured by Draco and Narcissa that it was quite nice. In the last few days Narcissa had sent in a cleaning and maintenance crew to make sure everything was in working order.

When they first stepped inside boxes were strewn about that would have to eventually be emptied one by one tomorrow. They wanted to have things situated before the kids arrived, but they were definitely going to have their work cut out for them.

"What do you think?" Draco asked nervously.

"I like it." Hermione replied honestly. "Can I have a tour though?"

Draco nodded and began the task of showing her the entire house. Starting from where they were standing in the entrance hall he led her to archway on the right that led into the living room. It was a large room and already Hermione's couch and his own couch were placed inside waiting to be arranged. Bookshelves were built into the walls much to Hermione's pleasure, and the fireplace was made of white marble with a large mantle Hermione could put pictures on.

Leaving the living room Draco led her down the hall and pointed to the next door on the right which was a full bathroom. Then the floor plan opened up revealing a large kitchen with a little eating nook to the left and the formal dining area to the right. In between the two spaces was a door that Hermione assumed led to the back yard. Retracing their steps they headed back down the hall and to the staircase to the left of the front door.

At the top of the stairs and immediately to the left was a room that already contained Scorpius' bedroom set. It was the perfect size for the little boy and right next door was a full bathroom that was going to be shared by he and Rose. Next to the bathroom was what was going to be Rose's room. Next to that was another room that was going to be the nursery. And then at the end of the hall to the right was the Master bedroom. It was rather large and contained a bed that Hermione did not recognize. They had both decided it was best to not bring either of their beds into the situation; especially since Hermione's had been the bed she shared in her marriage to Ron.

"Where did the bed come from?"

"That's my bed from the manor. If you don't like it we can get a new one."

"No, I like it." She assured him.

And she did; it was a large four poster bed that matched the dressers and nightstands brilliantly, working well with the purple color that was painted on the walls. To the right of the room was a large walk in closet divided up into two and that led into a large bathroom with his and hers sinks. Hermione was in love with it.

"I forgot to show you something downstairs." Draco said, pulling her out of her amazement at this bathroom.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Draco led her around to the staircase base and opened the door built in. Hermione stepped through and was delighted to see that she was surrounded by bookshelves filled with books, with a little reading nook tucked into one corner.

"I had it added the other day." Draco said nonchalantly.

"I love it." Hermione smiled. "However, there is one vital thing we are missing."

"What?"

"A play room for the kids."

"There's another thing you haven't seen." Draco said. "Follow me."

He led her back to the kitchen and next to the breakfast nook there was a door that she hadn't noticed before. Draco led her down the stairs and into the basement. It was a large basement that had already been designed with children in mind. And in one corner was a laundry area with brand new muggle appliances.

"Thank goodness! I didn't even think of laundry!"

"I think the kids will like it down here." Draco stated. "Their own private space."

"Yes, they will."

The two stood in silence for another moment until Draco decided to go through with Blaise's plan.

"What do you say we go to Italy for the night? Get some dinner and a hotel room to spend the night."

Hermione looked nervous at the mention of a hotel room, but her nervousness was beaten back by her growling stomach. Italian food sounded absolutely divine and she knew she would be stupid to pass up a night in Italy.

"Okay."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Well, it's been a while. I've been busy with work and since I work at a library I've been reading books like crazy which doesn't leave much time for writing. I also didn't get a chance to reply to every review, so thank you to those of you who did review and did not get a reply. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. And a early Happy 4th of July to all of the Americans out there who celebrate.**

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**Wednesday February 14, 2007**

After packing overnight bags Draco took Hermione by the hand and apparated them away to Italy. Thankfully he had known just the place to bring Hermione for the night. He'd stayed at this hotel before and knew their service to be exceptional. And he knew that they would take him without a reservation.

"Mr. Malfoy! A pleasure to see you!" The man behind the desk gushed in his heavy accented English.

"Thank you, Antonio."

"What can Antonio do for you and this lovely lady tonight?"

"We need a room for the night. We just got married today and decided to go away on short notice."

"No! Married! How wonderful! Antonio will set you two up in the honeymoon suite for the night!"

"Antonio, we really don't need the honey-" Hermione began only to be cut off abruptly by Antonio.

"Antonio insists, Mrs. Malfoy. Now here is the key to the honeymoon suite on the top floor. Antonio will also have a bottle of our finest champagne laid out for the two of you. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you, Antonio." Draco replied, grabbing the key before Hermione could protest again.

Draco had never seen the honeymoon suite before, but after staying in one of their luxurious regular rooms, he knew the suite had to be absolutely brilliant. And while this may not be a typical honeymoon for the two of them, there was no reason for them not to enjoy some luxury.

Sure enough when they entered the suite they were greeted by the sight of champagne chilling in a bucket on the table. The room was dominated by the large bed in the middle, covered in the best silks, and promising a wonderful night sleep.

"This is amazing." Hermione breathed as she went and plopped down on the bed. "And this bed is heavenly."

Draco joined her and lay down on his back staring up at the ceiling above the bed. What he saw surprised him-for it was the image of he and Hermione reflected back at him. Kinky. He decided it was best not to alert Hermione to its presence and stood up again before his mind was assaulted with images of watching Hermione ride him in the mirror above their heads.

"Well, are you hungry?" Draco asked.

"Starving."

"Good, I know the perfect restaurant."

While he wasn't known by name at the family owned restaurant a block away, they still received excellent service. They had been able to get seated with no problem and had only to wait a few minutes before a waiter walked over to their table.

"What can I get for the sir and madam tonight?" He asked pleasantly. "I highly recommend the 1997 Merlot."

"My wife is pregnant so no wine for us tonight." Draco replied.

Hermione started at the words that came out of his mouth. While both things were now true, it was strange to hear them coming from his mouth in relation to her. But she was going to have to get used to it, because she was going to be Draco's wife for a long time.

"My congratulations."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled, her gaze dropping to her left hand where the white gold diamond studded band sat on her finger where Draco had placed it earlier today. Looking up from her own she looked over at Draco's own hand and saw his matching band sparkle in the light from over their table. Initially the bands had been more than Hermione had wanted; she'd just wanted a band and nothing more, but Draco had insisted that they needed some sparkle. So they had compromised with the small diamonds set within the bands. She had had her diamond ring with Ron and since this was an entirely different marriage it didn't seem right to have another big diamond.

"Well then what can I get for you madam?"

"Just a glass of water and the chicken fettechini alfredo."

"Excellent choice, and for you sir?"

"I'll have a glass of lemonade and chicken carbonara."

"Excellent as well. I will be back with your drinks shortly."

Hermione and Draco sat in silence for a bit after the waiter left, and took the time to check out their surroundings. The restaurant was small but with a very nice atmosphere that invited warmth and a good time for all there. Both promises seemed to be true as laughter surrounded the couple, and even though both were feeling slightly awkward, they were both happy to be where they were at the moment.

"Do you think Rose will like the house?" Draco asked, breaking the silence.

Hermione nodded her head, "Oh yes, especially the play room in the basement. I was thinking about a change for her room though. I picked out the colors of her room when she was a baby and I think tomorrow I will let her choose what she wants."

"That's a good idea; I did the same with Scorpius. Maybe I should let him decide."

"You should! I'm sure Rose will help him choose. And they should decide what the playroom looks like together."

"What about the master bedroom? Did you want to change that?"

"No, I liked the shade of purple it was. And that bathroom was brilliant the way it is. In fact, the only thing I really want to change besides the kids' rooms is the color of the living room. It's rather plain."

"My Mother likes beige." Draco smirked. "What color were you thinking?"

"A pleasant light yellow."

"Hufflepuff colors!" Draco scoffed.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her husband, "The shade I am thinking of is nothing like Hufflepuff, and besides you never know if one of your children will be sorted in that house, so watch what you say!"

"Malfoys are always Slytherin, Hermione."

It was Hermione's turn to smirk, "Yes, so maybe Scorpius will be a Slytherin, but our child will be half me."

"Bloody hell. Well, Gryffindor is better than Hufflepuff any day. But if our child is not a Slytherin I'd rather they be in Ravenclaw; at least then they'll be brilliant."

Hermione didn't get a chance to reply to that last statement as the waiter arrived with their drinks and a breadbasket. Once he was gone again, Hermione dove into the bread, starving after what had been a long day.

"Have you had any negative effects from the pregnancy yet?" Draco asked curiously as he watched Hermione chow down on a piece of buttered bread.

Hermione shook her head, "I'm not that far along, but every witch is different with their pregnancies. I did have some morning sickness with Rose, but that doesn't mean I will with this one. Molly Weasley had terrible morning sickness with Ron, but never to that degree with any of her other children."

Hermione had just provided the perfect opportunity for him to make a comment about Weasley, but he bit his tongue. As her husband and Rose's step father it would not be right to make comments about her first husband and Rose's father.

"I don't know much about pregnancy." Draco confessed instead. "Astoria didn't let me be a part of it."

"What? Why?" Hermione asked her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"I have no idea why, but as soon as she found out she was pregnant she went and lived with her parents. I didn't see her again until after Scorpius was born. I didn't even see Scorpius until a day after he was born. And even after that Astoria stayed with her parents for another whole month!"

"That's horrible!" Hermione gasped. "Ron loved being a part of every step of the pregnancy, even the nastier bits. And you didn't even get to be there to see his birth? I already thought she was selfish for abandoning her son like that, but this only proves how much more selfish she is than I thought."

Draco just nodded his head in agreement; Hermione had basically summed up everything he felt about his ex wife in those lost few sentences. She was selfish and had always been. Thankfully she was no longer a concern for him or his son. He wouldn't be missing any other milestones with his son.

Xxx

Dinner had been delicious and now they found themselves back in their hotel room staring at each other as they stood on opposite ends of the bed.

"We have to get used to this." Draco stated practically taking in the sight of Hermione in her modest pajamas. They certainly were not lingerie and didn't show much, but in their modesty they were a turn on for him. Even if there were cartoon cats on the pants.

"Yes, of course. I haven't shared a bed in a while."

"Me either."

With that said they both pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.

"Just a warning, I may cuddle up to you in the night." Hermione whispered.

"I like to cuddle too, so don't be surprised if I cuddle up to you first."

"Right."

"Right."

"Good night."

"'Night."

They laid there stiffly for a few minutes before Hermione flipped over and settled in to a more comfortable position. A few minutes later she flipped over again. And a few minutes after that she flipped again.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked.

"I can't get comfortable."

"Come here." Draco insisted. "We're going to end up cuddled anyway, so we might as well start now."

Hermione nodded and moved closer to him. He held up his arm for her and laid there as Hermione nestled against him, her arm lying across his chest. He brought his arm down on her side and sighed in contentment as her warmth enfolded him. Hermione snuggled down deeper into him and soon both of them were asleep.

Xxx

**Saturday February 17, 2007**

The kids had been absolutely thrilled to pick out their new bedroom themes the day before, and now on Saturday all of their belongings were unpacked and situated in new places in the house.

The living room was now the pale yellow color Hermione had mentioned to Draco the night in Italy and after changing Draco's black leather couch into a much more inviting sand color, everything within the room worked together nicely.

Pictures of the kids lined the mantle place, with plenty of room for their new addition. And Draco had insisted that the space above the mantle be kept saved for a family portrait they would have done after the baby was born. Hermione had been quick to agree on that, although a part of her missed her family portrait from her old house. While packing, she had had her parents keep it in storage in their attic for Rose if she ever wanted it someday, but she would never have been able to get rid of it.

Any other pictures Hermione had of Ron she had given to Rose to be placed in her room. It didn't seem right to bring her first husband into her new marriage and she knew that seeing him in her daughter's room would be enough for her. So after Rose had decided on light blue walls, Hermione had hung up the pictures of Ron on Rose's walls. Her room had come together quite nicely. Her white bedroom set worked well with the new blue color and after taking a trip to the store, they had returned with new bed linens to match Rose's new look. Gone were the pink and purple flowers of Rose's toddler years and they were now replaced with lime green and blue polka dots.

As for Scorpius; he hadn't strayed that far away from what his old room had been like. Draco had decorated his room in Quidditch themed wall paper at their old flat, and Scorpius insisted that he wanted his Quidditch wall paper in this room too. However, he had insisted on a bunk bed and while they were at the store they picked up matching bed linens for his new bunk bed that were dark green with golden snitches flying around on them.

However, they left the nursery alone. They had both decided to wait and see what the baby was before they started any designs. Although, each of them had ideas for when the time came.

But despite finally getting all settled into their house, today marked another special occasion. Today was the night that Hermione and Draco invited their best friends over. For Hermione that meant that Ginny, Harry, and the kids were coming. And for Draco that meant that Blaise was coming over. Blaise had decided it was best not to bring Jackie along for what was guaranteed to be a tiring night with all of the children and Potter.

Hermione was currently in the kitchen pulling dinner from the oven when she heard the floo ignite. Draco was over in the formal dining room setting the table, the muggle way, which had been as much as a surprise to him as it had been to Hermione. After watching her prepare dinner entirely the muggle way, it had only seemed natural to set the table the same way.

"Aunt Ginny! Uncle Harry!" Rose yelled excitedly, effectively informing Hermione and Draco of who their first guests were.

After Rose's shout they heard the sound of pounding feet as all of the children, minus baby Lily, ran into the kitchen and to the basement door, where Rose and Scorpius were presumably about to show off their play room to the Potter boys.

"Dinner is almost ready, Rose, so show the boys real quick and come back up for dinner." Hermione called as Rose led the boys downstairs.

With that said, she moved into the living room to greet Harry and Ginny. Both were looking around the new room curiously when she walked in and both looked up at her arrival.

"This is a nice place, Hermione." Ginny smiled.

"Thank you, we'll have to give a full tour after dinner." Hermione replied and then reached out to hug her best friend.

When she and Ginny pulled apart Harry was waiting for her with open arms.

"If he ever does anything to you, just tell me and I'll take care of him." Harry whispered as the two best friends clung to each other.

Telling their friends had been even harder than their parents surprisingly. Well, at least her telling Harry had been. At first he had been very angry and insisting that Draco had taken advantage of her in a nefarious scheme. But after she had calmly explained to him the exact details, his anger had dissipated and instead he had tried to talk her out of their plan to marry. Harry insisted she was in for an unhappy life, but she told him that she had her children's happiness to worry about first. He hadn't been pleased with that explanation, but he knew that there was no changing her mind.

"He's not that bad anymore, Harry. He's changed. While I don't know exactly what kind of husband he'll be, he is a good Father and that's the most important thing to me."

With that said the two pulled away just as Draco walked into the room and the floo ignited again with Blaise Zabini inside. He stepped out, carrying a bottle of sparkling grape juice, in deference to pregnant Hermione, and grinned at his best friend.

"Something smells delicious." Blaise stated handing the bottle over to Draco.

"Thank you, we're about to eat. So why don't the three of you go pick your seats in the dining room while we round up the children?"

After the children had been pulled from their play and seated around the table, the group had eagerly began their meal of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread that Hermione had spent the afternoon preparing for her guests.

Fortunately, the conversation flowed nicely between the adults despite their marked differences. Of course the Slytherins at the table were outnumbered by the Gryffindors, but there were no barbed comments or nasty looks.

With the children to consider the Potters couldn't stay long after dinner had been eaten. Lily was cranky and ready for bed, and so were the rest of the children for that matter. So, the Potters gathered their children and left after a round of goodbyes and Hermione hustled Rose and Scorpius upstairs, while Blaise and Draco slipped into the library under the stairs.

"I received a letter from my Father." Draco stated suddenly as he walked over to his desk where he had left the letter that had arrived hours ago. He had yet to touch it again and hadn't told anyone about it until this very moment. He already had a good idea what it contained and really didn't want it to poison his good day.

"Well, let's see it then." Blaise said, holding out a hand to take the letter.

Draco handed it over without question and watched as Blaise broke the wax seal and pulled the letter from the envelope. At first Draco thought he would read it to him, but after a moment's hesitation his best friend silently read the letter and then handed it back to him with a shrug.

"Nothing in there too surprising from good ole Lucius Malfoy."

_Draco,  
_

_You ignorant fool. Marry a mudblood? How you could even conceive to sully our bloodline by bringing that mudblood into our family is beyond my comprehension. But worse...you did conceive: a halfblooded bastard onto that mudblood! You better believe that were I not in this deplorable prison cell I would handle the matter to my satisfaction. But alas, I am not free and instead am mocked by my fellow inmates because my son has made the family name a laughing stock. I can only be grateful that you have a legal and pureblooded heir in my grandson, Scorpius, the only child of yours I will ever acknowledge.  
_

_Sincerely,  
_

_Father  
_

By the time Draco finished reading he noticed that Blaise was chuckling. Throwing the letter down back onto the desk he quirked a brow at his best friend.

"As if writing you a letter is actually going to do anything. Like you care what he or his inmates think." Blaise laughed. "It still blows my mind to think how brainwashed we were as children by our parents."

Draco sighed, "You were never as bad as I was, Blaise."

Blaise nodded in agreement, "Well, I say you go about wooing Hermione so well that the two of you will be madly in love and continue to pop out halfblooded babies. And when you get the irate letters from your father after each and every birth I want to be there to laugh and drink a shot of celebratory firewhiskey."

Draco couldn't help the smile that graced his lips at his friends words, "You know Blaise, sometimes I ask myself 'why am I friends with Zabini?' and its statements such as those that sufficiently remind me why I am."

Blaise grinned, "Is that a roundabout way of saying you love me?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "I promise I'll invite you over anytime I get an irate letter from my Father. Now get the hell out of my house."

"I love you too, mate."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Next week I'll be on vacation again, so there probably won't be an update for 2 weeks. However, I do plan on taking time to work on the story tonight while I'm in between reading books, so that's a plus. Thank you to those reviewers I didn't get a chance to reply to.**

* * *

**Monday March 19, 2007**

A few days earlier Hermione and Draco had officially reached the one month mark of their marriage. It had been a rather boring month, with both of them settling into their new domestic roles quite nicely. Hermione no longer needed to worry about someone being around while she was at class now that she lived with Draco and they had also split domestic chores to their preferences as well. It was actually quite comfortable. And speaking of comfortable: they both had become quite used to cuddling together at night while they slept.

Hermione still wasn't really showing, at least not so other people could tell. When she lifted her shirt she could tell the difference, as had Draco when he asked to see, but otherwise no one would suspect she was pregnant if they did not know.

Hermione and Draco had also gotten into the habit of arriving to work together after dropping the kids off at the Burrow together. So as they stepped out of one of the fireplaces at work they were greeted by the very worried face of Blaise Zabini.

"What's wrong, Zabini?" Draco asked, knowing something was off immediately.

Blaise never looked this worried unless it was something serious. Usually he was grinning or smirking.

"She's back."

"Who's back?" Hermione asked in confusion.

Draco was just as confused as she was—that was until he heard a familiar screech coming from Harold's office. No, it couldn't be! But with a sinking heart he knew it had to be. Hermione looked up at her husband just in time to see his face blanch.

"What is going on here?" Hermione demanded.

"I'll tell you what's going on. A mudblood thought she could step into my shoes and raise my son." A voice hissed from down the hall.

Everyone's attention snapped to the blonde in the hall glaring at all of them, with a very perturbed looking Harold behind her. Astoria Greengrass had returned and no one was happy about it.

Draco laughed coldly, "First of all, do not call my wife that vile name. Secondly, this _muggleborn_ is not only a better witch than you, but most definitely a better mother than you."

"He is my son." Astoria insisted, stomping closer to where they stood, Harold following behind her.

"You gave up that right when you left." Draco shot back. "He doesn't even know who you are."

"I will not let him be raised by _her._"

"You don't get a say."

"That's what I've been telling her for a half hour, Draco," Harold said, "you gave up all parental rights to Scorpius when you signed those papers."

Astoria's eyes narrowed, "But Daddy—"

"I am not your Father anymore. You ceased to be my daughter the moment you walked away from your own son."

"Fine. If you won't help me, I'll find someone who will. And when I do, I'm coming after you for full custody of my son, Draco Malfoy. No mudblood will be raising my child."

Before Draco could say another word, Astoria turned and apparated away, leaving all of them staring at where she had just been a moment ago.

"She has no case, Draco." Harold insisted.

"There has to be some motive here besides the fact that you remarried." Blaise insisted. "Why else would she want responsibility she was only too willing to give up?"

"Blaise is right." Hermione agreed.

"That bitch has messed up my life since the moment she stepped in to it." Draco sighed, running a frustrated hand through his blond hair. Even with Harold's reassurance, he couldn't shake the feeling that Astoria was a real threat to him.

"We have nothing to worry about for now." Harold stated. "I'll do some investigating with Daphne who still has been talking to her all these years, and see if I can figure out what this is really about. Until then let's not worry until she finds someone worthwhile to represent her. None of our friends will take her case and that doesn't leave her with many options."

Xxx

Despite Harold's reassuring words, as soon as Hermione and Draco arrived at the Burrow to pick up the children, Draco scooped up Scorpius and held him close. Scorpius protested, squirming around in Draco's arms, and with a sigh Draco finally placed him back down on his feet next to Rose who was staring up at Draco curiously.

Following her daughter's gaze Hermione saw Draco's eyes glistening. Deciding it was best not to call attention to him, Hermione smiled at Molly and grabbed Rose's hand in her own.

"Who is hungry for pizza?" Hermione asked cheerily, hoping that an evening of fun with the children would pull Draco out of this funk his ex wife had put him in.

"Me!" The children chorused, staring up at Hermione hopefully.

"What about you, Draco? Pizza and games?"

Draco nodded his head, a slight smile transforming his face. Then, once he had taken Scorpius' hand in his own the four of them walked out of the Burrow and far enough away from the house so they could apparate away into the city.

Xxx

**Friday March 23, 2007**

Since Astoria's reappearance on Monday, Draco had been extra attentive and protective of Scorpius. He clung to him when he left him at the Burrow and clung to him just as tightly when they picked up the kids at the end of the day. They hadn't heard from Astoria since she left the office Monday, but there was a tension in the office that hinted that they had not seen the last of Astoria Greengrass.

However, despite his obvious worry, his attentiveness towards Scorpius had extended beyond the boy himself. Draco had eagerly started playing games with the two of them, tickling and hugging her own daughter just as much as he did his son—granted not as prolonged as his son, but still hugs nonetheless. And Rose loved it all; just as she had always loved playing games with Harry and his boys. She had needed a constant male role in her life, and Hermione was happy that this marriage had brought along another advantage that she hadn't even thought of before.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Hermione arrived home via floo from her night class. She'd left them at seven thirty when Draco had been in the bathroom with the two of them supervising as they brushed their teeth to the 'Granger standard' as he had dubbed it after Hermione taught him proper brushing techniques.

Stepping out of the fireplace Hermione had expected to see an empty living room. The kids should have been upstairs in bed sleeping and Draco could usually be found in the library at this time of night at his desk he had placed inside along with hers. Instead, Draco lay on the large couch with both Rose and Scorpius cuddled next to him and all three of them were asleep.

Hermione smiled at the scene before her. Could this scene get any more adorable? Yes, it could, she realized after she noticed that Rose and Scorpius were each holding on to one of Draco's hands. She honestly did not want to break up the moment, but Draco's neck would pay for it in the morning if she didn't get them all back into their proper beds.

Hermione tiptoed over to the couch, and gently brushed the hair off of Draco's forehead, effectively causing his grey eyes to snap open and stare up at her in confusion.

"Shh, the kids are asleep on you." Hermione cautioned before he moved or said anything. "Let's try to get them back into bed without waking them up."

With that said, Hermione moved to Scorpius, who she was more confident she could carry, and gently extricated him from Draco's body. He stirred lightly, but stayed fast asleep as Hermione lifted him up into her arms and headed to the stairs. Draco did the same with Rose and followed behind Hermione up the stairs.

The two went their separate ways at the top of the stairs, each tucking in the other's child, before meeting again in the hallway.

"What was that all about?" Hermione whispered curiously.

"One of the kids at the Burrow told a scary story and both of them were scared to go asleep. They came down a half hour after I put them to bed and I let them watch TV with me for a bit until they fell asleep. And then I fell asleep apparently." Draco replied as the two moved down the hall and into their own bedroom. "How was class?"

"Pop quiz, but I nailed it."

Draco smirked, "Of course you did, Granger."

Hermione ignored him and headed to the closet to change out of her clothes and into her pajamas. When the two had finished their nightly routines they slipped under the covers together and lay there silently until Draco suddenly asked:

"Can I see the bump?"

Hermione chuckled and lifted up her night shirt. Her stomach still wasn't much to look at, but it was slowly starting to become more noticeable. Next month they would be able to find out the sex of the baby and both of them were excited for that doctor's visit.

"Can I touch it?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Hermione nodded.

Ever since he had explained how Astoria had kept him from every aspect of pregnancy, Hermione had been extra aware of keeping Draco up to date on every aspect of her pregnancy. It had been a little awkward at first, but now it was completely normal for him to rub her belly as he was.

"You don't have to ask, Draco." Hermione said quietly as he silently caressed her slightly rounded belly, a look of wonder on his face.

"Thank you, Hermione. For everything; the baby, your support this week, your affection with Scorpius."

"You're welcome, and I thank you for this baby and for your affection with Rose. I didn't realize how much she had missed a male figure in her life."

Draco smiled and removed his hand from her belly, pulling her shirt back down for her, before he settled in on his side facing her as Hermione turned the bedside lamp off.

"You're welcome."

Xxx

**Saturday March 24, 2007**

After the hellish week Draco had experienced after Astoria's appearance on Monday, he knew that the family had to do something fun during the weekend to help take his mind off the fact that there was a small chance Astoria may win custody. He knew it was a long shot, but he'd be insane not to worry.

When he entered the kitchen he was greeted with a very domestic sight; one that still struck him as strange and new even though he had experienced it for about a month now. He didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing Hermione Granger making breakfast in a house they shared, growing round with his child.

The smell of French toast and bacon filled the air and Draco sighed. Since their marriage both he and Scorpius had been introduced to Hermione's French Toast, and like Rose they were both huge fans.

"Morning." Draco greeted pleasantly. "Breakfast smells brilliant, Hermione."

Hermione smiled and held out a plate to him, "Thank you."

Draco took the plate and went to sit opposite of Scorpius at their little breakfast nook. The kids had already put a large dent into their own plates, but Hermione was just sitting down next to him to eat. Now was his time to make his announcement; before the kids ran off with full bellies.

"Guess what?" He asked, his voice laden with excitement, hoping to gain the curiosities of the children. Sure enough it worked like a charm and both were staring at him excitedly.

"What?" They asked eagerly.

"I thought that we could all go to the zoo today!"

Rose and Scorpius started cheering and Draco knew he had his answer. However, looking at Hermione he realized he should have included her in the plan.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to." Draco whispered.

Hermione shook her head, "Some preparation would be nice. With kids around these sorts of things take planning, Draco."

"If you two are done eating, why don't you go get dressed?" Draco suggested, knowing that things were about to get a little too wordy and tense for the children to be around. Once they had scampered off and were up stairs, Hermione turned to face him in her chair.

"We are a team here, Draco. Consultation would be nice." Hermione stated firmly. "And there is no question of whether or not I want to go. I can't let you go with the two of them alone."

"And why the bloody hell not? I'm capable."

"It's different when you're with one child in a place like a zoo. But we're a family now and especially with how hyper they are around each other two sets of eyes is needed." Hermione insisted. "No need to get angry. I'm not mad, just a little annoyed."

"Fine, I understand your point."

"Good. I don't mind going today, but in the future we need to plan these things in advance."

"What about being spontaneous?"

"We have children; that's a little hard. Even the evening before is enough preparation for a day like today, Draco."

"Noted. I just wanted a fun day after the week I've had."

Hermione nodded in understanding, "I don't blame you. Well, since you're already dressed will you clean up breakfast while I get dressed and get the kids ready?"

"Of course."

Xxx

Hermione had been right of course. The zoo was crowded today and with the level of energy Rose and Scorpius were emitting he was glad to have an extra pair of eyes and hands with him. However, despite the crazy atmosphere of the place all four of them genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves. Rose was an expert on what animal was what, teaching Scorpius each proper name at each exhibit, gaining Hermione and Draco some amused smiles from strangers.

At the moment they were in front of the giraffe exhibit. It was an observation deck that was at the level of their heads, allowing guests to feed the giraffes with food that was provided in dispensers on the deck. Rose had begged for money for the dispensers and equally distributed the food between herself and Scorpius before they eagerly headed to the edge of the deck where the giraffes heads were seeking food with their big purple tongues.

"Those things aren't going to bite them are they?" Draco asked, wide eyed.

Hermione laughed, "They don't eat meat, Draco."

Following closely behind the children, they arrived behind the children just in time to hear part of Rose's lecture to Scorpius on the giraffes.

"Rafs?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

"No, Giraffes!" Rose insisted loudly.

"Your daughter is quite knowledgeable on Giraffes." A man near Draco said with a smile.

Draco chuckled, "And she likes to share it too, just like her Mother that one is."

The man laughed, causing Hermione to look their way. She hadn't heard what had been said by either one of them but smiled at the man kindly.

"I was just telling your husband how knowledgeable your daughter is."

"Yes, she's been going around the entire park like this." Hermione smiled. "She just read a book about them all."

"Read a book? How old is she?"

"Four."

"Wow; that's a smart girl you two have on your hands."

Hermione blushed and nodded.

"She gets that from her Mother; this one is a book worm." Draco laughed.

The man smiled and was then pulled away by one of his own children, leaving them there still watching as Rose and Scorpius fed the giraffes. Not only was Hermione surprised at the fact that Draco had been chatting with a muggle quite openly and amicably, but she was also surprised at how natural it seemed for him to have Rose referred to as his daughter. While she knew that Draco would never try to replace Ron in Rose's life, Hermione knew that Draco would be the best male role model Rose could ask for. He had already shown that in his own fathering of Scorpius. Part of that was not ostracizing her as his step child. Yes, that's what she was technically, but society had such negative connotations with those labels.

By the end of the day both of the kids were wore out. Scorpius held on to her hand, barely stumbling along as they left the zoo. Rose, however, had lost the battle with sleep, and was currently nestled on Draco's hip as he carried her out of the zoo. When they reached the apparation point they eagerly apparated away, ready to be back in the comfort of their own home.

Rose woke up upon reaching the house and stared up at Draco in confusion until she got her bearings and rested her head back on his shoulder trustingly.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs." Draco whispered, heading up the stairs behind Hermione and Scorpius.

After they got them cleaned up and in bed, the two headed to their own bedroom.

"What an exhausting day." Draco sighed as he plopped down on the bed.

"Wait until this baby comes; every day will be exhausting."

"I'm excited for that though." Draco said earnestly. "I'm ready to get to experience it all; the good and the not so good."

Hermione smirked, "Good, I'll make sure you do your fair part."

"I don't think I like the looks of that smirk."

"You'll understand why I'm smirking a few weeks after this baby is born." Hermione replied. "Anyway, my appointment is set up for April sixth at one, can you come with me?"

"Of course! We'll go on our lunch break; I'm not about to miss finding out what you're cooking in there."

Hermione smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Sorry it has been a while. I was on vacation last week and this week has been sort of hectic. It probably won't get much better in all honesty. I was hoping to finish this before I go back to school, but at this rate I'll probably still be working on it when September rolls around. And let me warn you all now that with it being my last semester things might be slow going due to classes and applying to grad schools. But I will try my hardest to finish this story!**

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**Friday April 6, 2007**

Her belly was noticeably round, however, abandoning her tight fitting blouses assured that she would easily be able to go another two months without anyone noticing her condition. The only people at the office who knew about her condition were Blaise, Draco, and the partners. And none of them were going to say anything until Hermione took her maternity leave.

Her marriage to Draco had caused quite a stir and had been headlines in the _Daily Prophet_ for weeks before they finally grew bored with speculating over their marriage and moved on to a different topic. If news were to get out how pregnant she was, the paper would have its story and would most likely bring on publicity both Hermione and Draco did not want. They could speculate when the baby had been delivered and they were comfortable sequestered away in their home adjusting to their new baby away from prying eyes.

Her healer's office had been great when news of her pregnancy with Rose became known and everyone wanted to know what the two war heroes were having. The office had kept quiet and forever earned Hermione's respect at not taking an easy bribe for some simple information.

That was why she had returned to them and was trusting them to keep this information just as secret as they had done before.

"Hermione Granger-Malfoy, I see now. A little wedding took place, yes?" Healer Watson asked with a smile as she entered the room where Hermione and Draco were waiting.

Hermione nodded her head, "Yes, this is my husband Draco Malfoy. I didn't properly introduce you two before."

"Nice to see you again Mr. Malfoy." Healer Watson smiled at Draco. "Now, are you two ready to find out what you'll be having?"

"Yes." Draco replied eagerly from his chair next to the exam table Hermione was laid out on.

"Excellent. Well, first I'm going to check on Momma's and baby's health and growth before I find out that bit of information."

Hermione and Draco watched as Healer Watson waved her wand around Hermione's belly, producing the same image as she had before. What had been nothing but a mass before was now obviously human shaped-though small. Draco stared at it in wonder as Healer Watson ran tests, nodding at her findings. Hermione watched the image too, but she also was watching Draco's reaction to it all. It was adorable.

"Everything looks great. The baby is developing along quite nicely and all your levels look good, Hermione. Has this pregnancy been pretty easy? Morning sickness?"

"None." Hermione replied.

"I'm jealous; I had horrible morning sickness with both of my children. However, just make sure you keep up with your potion regiment and schedule your appointment for next month on the way out. Now, the moment you've both been waiting for. Boy or girl? First, I have to ask; what are you two hoping for?"

"I don't care either way." Hermione replied with a smile.

"I want a girl." Draco said confidently.

Healer Watson laughed, "Well, there's something I don't hear every day. Usually the husbands are hoping for boys."

"Draco already has a son from a previous marriage." Hermione replied.

"I see. Well Draco, fathers and daughters share pretty special relationships. So make sure you take care of yours."

Draco's face lit up, "It's a girl?"

"Yes. Congratulations to both of you."

Xxx

Draco had been on cloud nine since returning to the office after Hermione's appointment. They had stopped for a quick bite to eat beforehand and it had taken all of Draco's will power not to lay his hand on her belly the entire time. He was sure Hermione would have allowed it, but they didn't need to get the gossips going.

"So spill; you two went to the healer right?" Blaise said as he breezed into Draco's office. "You look like the cat that got the canary."

Draco smirked, "That's a muggle phrase isn't it?"

"Bloody hell, it is. Jackie does have a muggle mother, and I guess she's rubbed off on me; in more than just a sexual way."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I believe you came in here to inquire about my unborn baby, not talk about your sex life with Jackie."

"Yes! Now tell me, am I to have another nephew or a niece?"

"A niece." Draco replied with a wide smile.

"Brilliant! Scorpius is great, but little girls do have some of the cutest clothes." Blaise grinned. "I can't wait to go on a shopping spree for my little niece. Girls also have the softest and cutest stuffed animals-"

"Blaise, I am seriously shocked by how much you know about this."

Blaise flushed, "I always wanted a little sister and when I was little I would often explore the girls' side of stores."

Draco shook his head, a grin on his face. Leave it to Blaise. However, he was glad that his best friend was just as excited as he was for a little girl. He wasn't sure if it was even possible. But then again, it had been a long time since a Malfoy had had more than one child. And of course, that child had always been a boy. Well, here he was just breaking all the rules. Not only had he divorced a pureblood and married a muggleborn, he was about to have the first Malfoy daughter who wasn't of pureblood no less! It was exhilarating; his Father was probably cursing his name in his cell at Azkaban.

Xxx

**Saturday April 7, 2007**

Today was a special day for the girls. Today Rose and Hermione would be joining Jean in Muggle London to do some shopping for the baby's room as well as some clothes shopping for all of them. Initially Rose wanted Scorpius to come along too, but after explaining that today was a girl's day Rose seemed to understand and was almost excited to be spending the whole day with her Gramma Granger in attendance.

So while the girls were out on their little shopping adventure, that left Draco and Scorpius in the house alone pondering what to do. Scorpius was pouting because he wasn't able to go along with the girls and had turned down Draco's suggestions for 'the floor is lava'.

"Well, what do you want to do, Scorp?" Draco asked patiently.

The little boy said nothing and instead, continued to stare at the action figure in his hand.

"Okay. Well, do you want to help me set something up in the backyard?"

Scorpius looked at him curiously, wondering what Draco could have to set up in the back yard.

"It's a surprise for Rose and Hermione. You want to see what it is and help me?"

"Yeah!"

Draco smiled, happy that he had finally been able to wipe the pout right off his son's face. And his smile only widened when he took in his son's expression at seeing the box that contained what would become their deluxe swing and fort set. It was muggle in design and if Draco had simply been a muggle he never would have been able to assemble the bloody thing by himself. Fortunately he had a wand and with a smirk on his face he pulled his wand out of his pocket and started his magic.

"You think Rose will like it?" Draco asked after the parts were out of the box and arranged in the backyard where he wanted it. He had decided to place it partially under the protection of their large oak tree; to offer the children shade on the hot summer days.

"Yes." Scorpius replied confidently. "I likes it."

"Good."

With the help of magic the swing set/fort was up in no time. One part was made up of two swings and connected to the right of it was the fort. There was a ladder that led up into the fort and from the base of the fort, which was covered by a roof, there was a slide and a fireman's pole. Once Draco was sure the thing was stable he let Scorpius hop on it and watched with a satisfied smile as Scorpius scurried up the ladder and immediately slid down the slide, laughing all the way.

After a while Scorpius finally settled down on a swing and Draco moved to give his son a push or two. Time flew by and before he knew it, the backdoor opened and Hermione and Rose stepped out, looking at the two of them and the set in astonishment.

Rose didn't question it, but instead quickly climbed the ladder and started to explore the fort. Hermione, however, kept staring at the thing before she finally turned her stunned face to a grinning Draco.

"Where did this come from?" Hermione finally asked.

"A muggle store." Draco shrugged. "Scorpius and I put it up today."

"I hope it's secure."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course. I used magic and made sure it was stable before I let Scorpius on. Well, do you like it? It was supposed to be a surprise for you and Rose."

Hermione smiled as Rose and Scorpius laughed as they took turns sliding down the slide. "Yes, and it looks like Rose certainly likes it as well. Thank you, Draco."

"My pleasure." Draco replied, moving towards the backdoor where Hermione still stood. "So, what did you girls get today?"

"Some outfits for all of us; including some adorable baby outfits I'll show you later. Then Mom and I went a little crazy in the baby store and I'll show you the evidence in the nursery later."

Draco chuckled, "You used the credit card I gave you right?"

He was, of course, referring the card he had opened in both of their names following their marriage. So far neither of them had had to make purchases that would require the credit card offered through Gringotts and completely acceptable to the muggle world. Hermione had felt weird about using it to buy her own clothes, but had used it to buy all the baby things and what she had bought for Rose as well as Scorpius today.

Hermione nodded, "Yes, I didn't use it on myself though; I just used it for the kids. I bought Scorpius some new outfits because I noticed his pants were a little short."

"Thank you, but you know that card is for this entire family, Hermione. That's what the account is for."

"I know, I just—it didn't feel right using it for my clothes."

"Your maternity clothes which you need because you are pregnant with my child. Even if you weren't pregnant, you are my wife and entitled to treating yourself with the money in that account, Hermione."

Hermione sighed, "I'll remember that next time."

Xxx

After the children had been put to bed, completely tired out from their play on the new swing/fort set, Hermione led Draco into the nursery with a wide smile on her face.

Against the far wall there stood a gorgeous white crib with matching changing table and dresser. The bedding was white with multicolored polka dots and Draco grinned when he noticed that Hermione had bought the matching mobile as well.

"They're beautiful."

"And the bed converts into a toddler bed." Hermione said eagerly. "I wish I would have had a crib like this for Rose, but I used Ginny's crib and gave it back after Rose grew out of it."

"Now we need to paint the walls. What color do you think?"

"White with polka dots?"

Pulling out his wand, Draco nodded in agreement. After a quick spell the plain white walls were transformed with a wide strip of multi colored polka dots in the middle of the walls that wrapped clear around the room.

"Do you like that? I feel like having the whole walls covered would be too much."

"It's lovely." Hermione assured him. "Another thing I wanted to do for this room, was when we figure out what to name her, I want to get her name over her crib. What do you think?"

"I think let's pick a name!"

"Great, I've got a list in my journal-"

Draco laughed, "Of course you do."

"Well, don't you?"

"Get me an astronomy book."

"Really? We seem to be breaking a ton of other traditions, so maybe we should break that one as well. You do have Scorpius, why not pick a more normal name for our daughter?"

"So you don't like my name?"

"No, it's just—when I found out we were having a girl those were not the names to come to mind."

"There are some rather feminine names in the stars, Hermione. Like Carina for example. However, you are right about breaking traditions. But if we cannot agree on the 'normal' names you suggest I reserve the right to put forth names from the stars. And your name isn't exactly normal now is it?"

"Exactly my point. Primary school was a nightmare for that reason. No one knew how to say my name. Why do you think I named Rose, Rose?"

"Point taken. Okay, let's see this list, Granger."

Hermione made him wait until they had both prepared for bed and were nestled under the covers of their bed before Hermione pulled out a book from her bedside table and flipped it open to the bookmarked page. The page was filled with names, split into two categories for boy and girl. Obviously they could ignore the boy's category, but even disregarding it there were a lot of names to sort through.

"Let me look at this and cross off the ones I absolutely detest." Draco insisted as he took the book from her and grabbed her muggle pen.

I took him a few minutes but when he passed the book back to Hermione she glared at him. "I had fifty names on here and you crossed out all but five?"

"I didn't like them; they didn't sound good with Malfoy."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "So that leaves us with Evelyn, Madeline, Katherine, Joanna, and Gabrielle. I can't help but notice that these all have the old fashioned feel."

"I like old fashioned names." Draco shrugged.

"So do I. Now let's think about what middle name we want to use to decide what sounds best. Madeline Malfoy has the alliteration that automatically makes it sound good."

"Leave it to Granger to analyze this." Draco chuckled. "I was hoping to have the middle name be my mother's name if that is okay?"

Hermione nodded, "Of course, Rose's middle name is the same as mine after my Mother. Let's see then…Evelyn Narcissa Malfoy, Madeline Narcissa Malfoy, Katherine Narcissa Malfoy, Joanna Narcissa Malfoy, and Gabrielle Narcissa Malfoy."

"Gabrielle doesn't work at all." Draco grimaced and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"I don't like Joanna much either."

"Okay, down to three then."

"Let's stop there for tonight and keep thinking over these. Also, we should consider potential nicknames with each of these names."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course, Hermione."

"Good night."

"Night."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Well... it's been a long time and I apologize for that. Things got pretty hectic with summer vacation plans, my job, getting ready to take the GRE, finding out my dog had a malignant growth, and getting ready for my last semester as an undergrad. Thankfully though, I took the GRE a week ago, my dog is fine for the moment, and I'm moved back in at school for the semester. However, since this is my last semester and I have applications to do as well as finishing my degree, I cannot guarantee speedy updates. As I said before, I will do my best to finish this story; it just may take longer than I originally bargained for. Thank you to all of you that have stuck with it; I do see your reviews, favorites, etc., I just haven't had time to say thank you!**

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**Monday April 30, 2007**

The last few weeks had been deceptively happy go lucky with the debate over baby names and watching the children enjoy their new play fort. He had also continued his streak of not having wet dreams about Hermione. It seemed that cuddling with her at night did wonders to prevent the potentially embarrassing situation. While he did still wake up with a morning wood, which was inevitable as a male with a soft feminine body next to him, Hermione was an early riser and never noticed. Things had been so nice around the house that Draco had almost allowed himself to forget about Astoria's unfortunate arrival back into his life. And of course on the day he was sure he had finally decided on a name he liked best Astoria rudely pushed her way back in to the forefront of his mind.

It was a quiet morning at the office. Draco was between cases at the moment and decided that today was a good day to straighten up his desk and file papers that should have been put in their proper place over a month ago. He was in the middle of doing that when Blaise barged into his office without a knock and a desperate look on his face.

"She's back."

Draco's brow wrinkled in confusion, "Who is back?"

"Astoria, and she's found someone to defend her case."

Draco scoffed, "They have no case."

"I think you'll find that they won't need much of a case when I tell you who her lawyer is."

"Who the bloody hell could prove that Astoria is a better parent than me after she abandoned her own son?"

"Alejandro Rodriguez."

"Bloody hell."

It was a well known fact among the lawyers of the wizarding community that Alejandro Rodriquez was the most persuasive, charming, and thus successful lawyer in all of Europe. Thankfully he had kept his business in Spain, his home country, but for some reason he had decided to invade Britain with his dashing good looks and charming accent that would set the court room to sighing with only one syllable.

"Why would he come to Britain? I've heard he detests the weather." Blaise mused.

"Come on Blaise, there's only one obvious reason. Even Rodriquez will know that I have this case won already, but he's willing to try and that's all because Astoria spreads her legs for him."

Blaise smirked, "Then it's our job to prove that. Harold and I are on this case, Draco, and we also mean to find out what other motive Astoria has besides you raising Scorpius with Hermione. In the mean time you and Granger need to go out in public with the children to show just how good of a Father you are."

Draco nodded his agreement and was about to say something when a very high pitched and annoyingly familiar scream filled his ears. He and Blaise dashed out of his office immediately and to the front of the office space where Astoria stood next to the Spaniard staring in horror at Hermione's belly, which happened to be displayed today in the silk blouse she had worn.

Astoria's horrified gaze shifted to him as he came up behind Hermione, "Now you're going to have a halfblood? And you think yourself fit to raise our son, the purest of purebloods?"

"I think you just proved how unfit you are to raise Scorpius." Draco stated simply before turning his gaze to Rodriguez. "Go ahead, Rodriguez, and try to win this case. But I think you'll find that all your charm and persuasiveness will not work here in England where I am married to one of the Golden Trio and have proved to be a better man than I once was. And just because I have no reason to hate you, I'll give you some advice. Don't waste your time on what is between her legs; she'll desert you for the next best thing—that is if she doesn't have someone else going at the same time."

With a huff and a glare, Astoria grabbed Alejandro's hand and dragged him over to one of the fireplaces. The crowd of employees that had gathered watched as just before she stepped in the fireplace she spun around, looked Draco dead in the eyes and said: "This isn't over yet, Draco."

Xxx

"Bloody hell, I still can't believe that you're married to Draco and having his baby and now you want me to be a character witness?" Harry said in exasperation.

Hermione had left for her class early and had used that extra time to swing by the Potter's, leaving Draco alone at home with the children. Using Harry as a character witness had been Blaise's idea; he figured that with the backing of two of the remaining golden trio Rodriguez's case, no matter how charming, would be ineffective. However, Bliase wasn't the one who had to convince Harry to do it; he had asked Hermione to do that job.

"Harry," Hermione sighed, "all of your personal feelings towards Draco aside, he is a good father."

"Yes, I will give him that." Harry agreed grudgingly. "And next to Astoria he is a paragon of what a parent should be."

"No doubt about that." Ginny chimed in from where she was taking care of dinner dishes with well practiced wand flicks. "Besides that, Harry, like it or not Draco is Hermione's husband and therefore, by default a friend."

"I wouldn't go that far, Gin." Harry sighed. "But since you are my best friend, Hermione, I will testify to his skills as a father and husband. That is if he has been treating you right of course?"

"Of course he has, Harry." Hermione rolled her eyes. "And thank you; I know this has been a lot for you to swallow—what with the pregnancy and then the shotgun wedding—but I want you to know that I don't regret any of it."

"Yet." Harry chuckled. "Just kidding; if you're happy, I'm happy."

Xxx

When Hermione slipped into bed later that night, Draco was waiting for her, propped up against the headboard, consulting the list of baby names. She had already decided what name she liked best, but she did not have the sole vote in the matter and was eagerly awaiting Draco's choice. Hopefully they could compromise.

"I've decided what name I like best." Draco announced as Hermione fluffed her pillow.

"I have as well."

"Perfect, you go first."

"No, you go first."

Draco quirked a brow, "Really Granger? Fine, I'll go first. I like Madeline Narcissa Malfoy best."

Hermione's eyes widened, "Seriously?"

"Yes, why?" Draco frowned down at his wife's face.

"I was expecting the two of us to have to compromise, but that was the name I had decided on as well."

Draco grinned, "Well, then that matter is solved."

Hermione nodded, "Which just leaves us with Astoria."

Draco sighed and slipped down in bed, turning on his side so he was facing Hermione as she was him.

"Harry agreed to be a character witness for you." Hermione offered. "Honestly, I don't think this trial is going to be all that difficult. The judge is not going to be an idiot; he'll see what clearly is going on."

"I know, I just thought I had cleaned my hands of her years ago. Thankfully Scorpius is still too young to know or understand what is going on right now."

"And we'll do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn't try to drag him into the courtroom."

Xxx

**Tuesday May 1, 2007**

_The house was quiet with the children in bed, and the only sound to be heard at the late hour was the sound of the large Grandfather clock ticking in the hallway. Draco was sprawled out on the couch waiting for his wife to come home, a romance book in one hand and his other hand down his pants._

_Just as he was getting to the good part where Lord Hardman was about to put his hard man in his lady wife, the fire place ignited and in walked his wife, her eyes widening at the sight of his tented pajama pants and the hand that was stuffed down in them. Draco looked like a child with his hand in the cookie jar, desperately wanting to pull his hand from his pants, but frozen at being discovered. However, Hermione only grinned and made her way over to him on the couch, her hips swaying provocatively._

"_Somebody missed me." She said, her voice husky as she worked on the buttons of her blouse._

"_You have no idea." Draco replied, finally pulling his hand from his pants only to use the same hand to shove those pants down around his ankles, leaving him bare to his wife's hungry gaze._

"_Good thing I've missed you just as much." She replied as she moved to straddle him on the couch._

_Just as Lord Hardman had been about to find his pleasure in the romance novel, so was Draco; just another inch and…_

Draco started awake, very aware of the throbbing going on his groin area and the stiff feminine body that was cuddled in front of him. Shit! She had felt his erection! How could she not, with her body pressed so close to his?

"Um Draco?" Hermione asked hesitantly, her cheeks burning.

She knew men experienced morning erections, but so far in their marriage she had not experienced waking up to one poking her arse. Of course she had seen evidence of his morning arousals before without his knowledge, but even then they were nothing compared to the flag he was flying at the moment.

Draco shuffled away quickly, his own cheeks turning red in embarrassment, "Right, sorry about that…I'll just…"

He decided not to finish that thought and instead made a beeline to the bathroom where he immediately turned on the shower, completely bypassing the hot water valve. His luck had ended; it wasn't simply enough to be cuddled against her all night anymore. He needed more; he needed her. And in order for that to come about he needed to woo her just as Blaise had suggested. Problem was he thought he had been wooing her in his own way; taking care of the children, doing chores around the house, but it was obvious he needed to step up his game if he was ever going to get release before she was too pregnant.

Xxx

"Woke her with a stiffy did you?" Blaise laughed, not caring that his best friend was scowling at him darkly across their bistro table. "Okay, okay, I can see that you don't find it as funny as I do. But it's like I told you before, you need to woo her. Take her out on a date; court her."

"What do I do until I succeed at that?"

Blaise took a bite of his sandwich and contemplated his best friend's options. The whole situation was awkward. The two were married, shared a bed, but didn't have a physical relationship at all besides cuddling at night. So how was Draco going to keep his wet dreams at bay?

"Sleep on the couch?"

"No."

"Well, Granger was married before, I'm sure she's used to the morning woody."

"This is a little different."

Blaise sighed, "Yes, I know. I don't know what to tell you, Draco. Don't cuddle so closely? How bad was it anyway? Did she say anything?"

"Not directly."

"She probably has already forgotten it, so don't even worry about it Draco." Blaise stated evenly. "Anyway, I've employed one of my guys. You know one of those Knockturn Alley guys."

Draco quirked a brow, "Which one?"

"The one that likes to be paid in Firewhiskey."

Draco nodded his approval, "He's the best. Did he know anything to begin with?"

"I gave him the background and he had a good idea of where to start his investigation; Greece."

"Greece?"

Blaise nodded, "Apparently Astoria made a trip to Knockturn Alley the other day, purchased an item, and had it sent to an address in Greece."

"Interesting. Well, knowing Astoria its probably a man."

"My guy will find out and then we'll be closer to getting this bloody mess over with."


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Thanks again to everyone who reviews, favorites, etc.  
**

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**Friday May 11, 2007**

After a full week of working closely with Harold and their case against Astoria, Blaise was happy to be spending a carefree Friday evening. Sadly Jackie was away with her sister for their Quidditch match in Ireland, but surprisingly Blaise had been invited out by Ginny and Harry Potter.

While it was strange that they had invited him to dinner at a restaurant along Diagon Alley, Blaise wasn't that alarmed by it. Their paths were destined to cross for years to come considering that their best friends were married to one another. In fact, Blaise had a pretty good idea just what this dinner was going to be about.

Sure enough, after greetings and pleasantries the Potters faced him across the table and laid out their plan.

"Hermione finishes her program at the beginning of next month," Ginny began, "and since she gave away most of Rose's baby stuff we decided to throw her a combination graduation party and baby shower. And as you are Draco's best friend we wanted to involve you since the shower will be for him as well."

"Good." Blaise stated seriously. "Draco missed out on everything about Astoria's pregnancy with Scorpius. He'll love the shower."

Ginny smiled, obviously pleased, "Good, we want it to be a surprise for him as well. However, he will know about the graduation party for Hermione, but when he gets there he'll see that it is much more. So we need you to be our ally in keeping him partly in the light and partly in the dark in regards to this entire party."

"And we need your help planning this." Harry added in. "Ginny has her hands full with our children and I'm not much of a party planner. So as a Slytherin-"

"You assumed I was a brilliant party planner?" Blaise interrupted with a grin.

"Well, yes." Harry admitted ruefully.

"It's true, I am." Blaise chuckled. "No problem. However, I do have a lot on my plate with this case against Astoria. But between the two of us I'm sure we can have this thing planned between now and…when exactly is this party?"

"I thought June second at Hermione and Draco's house."

"Sounds good, but did you know the fifth is Draco's birthday?"

"It is?"

"Yes, but Draco isn't one for big birthday parties…not anymore. I'll handle that with Hermione. For now let's worry about this party."

Xxx

Tonight began Draco's wooing campaign. Initially he had meant to get this going a week ago, but with extra case loads at work, plus worry over Astoria he really hadn't had time to think too much about it. And Hermione had been busy the last week working on a paper for her class. But tonight had been the perfect night to kick start the wooing that would hopefully lead to his relief and happiness.

Hermione had been surprised when he had asked her on a date the other day, listening quietly as he explained that he had arranged for her parents to watch the kids while they enjoyed a night out. He hadn't told her what he had planned, but she had agreed with a hesitant smile nonetheless and asked what to wear.

Draco stared appreciatively as Hermione descended the staircase in their house in a flowing red dress that showcased the swell of her belly that marked her as his and his alone. He liked it; he liked seeing the evidence of his child growing inside her and she was positively glowing.

"You look beautiful." Draco stated simply as Hermione's eyes raked over his form.

He had worn muggle slacks and a buttoned shirt and tie that perfectly complimented his eyes.

"Did you already take the kids to my parents?" Hermione asked curiously, noticing how quiet the house was at the moment.

Draco nodded his head, "They were eager to get there; especially after I told them your Mom had made cookies for them."

Hermione smiled, "A cookie sounds good. So where are we going? Somewhere good to eat I hope; I'm starving."

Draco grinned, "Don't you and Maddie worry; I'm taking care of the two of you tonight quite brilliantly. I thought we'd go to what your Mother assured me was your favorite restaurant in muggle London."

Hermione's face lit up in pure delight hoping that Draco was referring to the restaurant she thought he was.

Sure enough when they arrived a while later her eyes lit up as she read the sign hanging over the door. It wasn't a very fancy restaurant, but it had been one of her absolute favorites as a child. Family owned by a delightful Spanish family, they offered excellent Spanish food which Hermione had been craving a lot lately.

"Brilliant, I've been craving this for ages." Hermione beamed.

After they were seated they only had to wait a minute or two for a waitress to approach their table.

"Welcome, what can I get you two to drink tonight?" She asked in heavily accented English.

Hermione looked up and smiled at the familiar visage of who she recognized to be the owner's sister. When Maria looked down at Hermione her eyes narrowed in recognition before she looked back over at Draco curiously.

"Miss Hermione?" Maria asked hesitantly.

Hermione nodded with a smile, "It's good to see you Maria, it's been ages."

"Si, it has. And who is this? I thought you were married to a red headed man."

"I was, but he passed away a few years ago. This is Draco, my new husband."

Maria sent a smile in Draco's direction, "You have good taste in men Miss Hermione. Your children will be beautiful."

"We hope so," Draco added proudly, "we are expecting a daughter in September."

"How wonderful! Tonight dessert is on the house for the lovely young couple."

"Thank you Maria."

"Si, no problem."

After a very enjoyable and delicious dinner and dessert Draco and Hermione left the restaurant with wide smiles on their faces. As they walked down the street towards the apparation point, Hermione stopped to read the movie times at the brightly lit cinema building. Draco had no idea what she was looking at, but he couldn't mistake the longing in her eyes as she stared at one particular poster.

"Do you want to do…whatever that is?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"This is a cinema; you go in and watch a movie on a giant screen and eat popcorn while you do so." Hermione explained with a smile. "I think I would like to see this movie…that is if you don't mind? A show is starting in five minutes and we'll still get back to my parents before eleven."

"Then let's see it and eat whatever this stuff you call popcorn is."

Hermione smiled, "You'll love it."

Not only did Draco experience popcorn for the first time, but also what was known as a romantic comedy. He had immensely enjoyed the first, and simply tolerated the second.

Xxx

**Monday May 14, 2007**

Both Harold and Blaise were missing at the office early Monday morning when Hermione and Draco arrived at work. Harold's secretary had no idea where they were, only having received a note stating they were out working on the case against Astoria which meant they could be anywhere. Draco wondered if Blaise's Knockturn Alley guy had found something out that they were following up on today.

He hated not knowing, but he wasn't the lawyer on the case; it was his own after all. Besides, he had his own cases to worry about. Another land dispute had landed on his desk early this morning, but Hermione had been able to find the right documents within an hour that assured a speedy and easy trial to be held at the end of the week.

It was after lunch when Draco's office door was flung open and Blaise strode inside with a brilliant grin on his face.

"I take it your guy earned his firewhiskey quite sufficiently?" Draco asked as Blaise sprawled out in the seat across the desk from him.

"Indeed." Blaise grinned. "Harold and I made a trip to Greece this morning to follow the lead."

"And what did you find?"

"Well, the address Astoria sent stuff to in Greece belongs to a Kostos Stavros."

"And who is Kostos Stavros?"

"Stavros is quite a prominent pureblooded name in Greece; they are mostly sent to Durmstrang though. You probably haven't heard of them because both of your five great grandfathers hated each other and liked to pretend the other didn't exist. It worked quite well since they were Greek and located in Greece. Anyway, he's bloody rich; owns a huge house along the coast there; quite beautiful house really."

"So did you talk to him?"

"No, we posted our Knockturn Alley guy there to watch for a while and see what the connection is."

"In other words, you and Harold really didn't need to go to Greece yourselves?" Draco asked with a quirked brow.

"You've caught us; we fancied some Greek food and decided we had the perfect excuse."

Draco rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the papers on his desk. He had a strange feeling in his stomach about this Stavros guy. He was probably the key to all of this, but what was it?

"Enough about that though. How did your date with Hermione go?" Blaise asked eagerly.

"I think we both had a pretty good time."

"Pretty good? Pretty good is not wooing, Draco."

"Well, oh master of romance, what do you suggest I do to woo Hermione?"

"You need to make a grand gesture."

"What kind of gesture; I'm already married to her and having a child with her, what other grand gesture is there at this point?"

Blaise shrugged, "That's for you to figure out."

Draco scoffed, "Well that's helpful, Blaise. Thank you so very much for your brilliant romance advice. Speaking of which, how is your romance with Jackie?"

"Hey, this isn't about me." Blaise insisted. "Jackie and I are still getting along and I probably should be thinking about my own grand gesture instead of yours."

Draco's brows rose, "As in proposing? Are you going to propose to Jackie?"

"While that certainly is a grand gesture, I'm not sure if that's my grand gesture. Obviously it isn't yours." Blaise chuckled. "Well, I better get to my office and work on my other case before I get another howler from the opposing counsel."

Xxx

Despite the potential of a howler from the opposing counsel, Blaise found himself seeking Hermione out to discuss plans for Draco's birthday. He knew he had to watch what he said when he finally found her, because he ran a real risk of blabbing the other plans that she was absolutely not supposed to know about. So far he had succeeded in broaching the subject of Hermione's grad party with Draco without revealing the baby shower portion, so he had every faith that if he didn't spill the beans to his best friend he wasn't about to do that with his wife.

However, Draco wasn't nearly as pretty as Hermione was. Especially with the glow of pregnancy illuminating her face as she gazed up at Blaise curiously as he approached her desk.

"Hello Blaise." She greeted with a soft smile.

"Hello Hermione and may I say that pregnancy becomes you?"

"You can, but that doesn't mean I have to believe it." She replied with a grin. "So what brings you down here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Draco's birthday on the fifth of June. You know that's his birthday right?"

"Of course I do."

"Have you thought of anything for his birthday?"

Hermione sighed, "I didn't figure he would want a big party."

Blaise nodded his agreement, "We'll save that for three years from now when he turns thirty. He'll really love us then."

Hermione laughed, "Well, we could just have a dinner at our house for him with his full knowledge."

"We'd invite his Mother, your parents, the Potters, and me of course."

"And the children as well." Hermione added. "I think that would be just fine and something he would be happy with."

Blaise grinned, "And of course I can embarrass him by gifting him with an outrageous gift he has to open in front of everyone."

Hermione shook her head, already used to the unique 'bromance' between her husband and Blaise. It was quite amusing at times and she personally hoped that Blaise carried through with the outrageous gift idea; she was sure it was something she would want to see.

Xxx

"Blaise approached me with plans about your birthday today." Hermione stated casually as she and Draco slipped into bed that night. "We thought a dinner with just our parents, the Potters, and the children. However, that shouldn't be our concern at the moment; Rose's birthday is coming up this month on the twenty seventh; it slipped my mind thanks to my pregnancy hormones."

Draco nodded in understanding, "I trust you and Blaise with my birthday and don't worry, we have plenty of time to get something nice together for Rose. "

Hermione reached over to her bedside table and grabbed the leather bound planner she kept handy for keeping track of appointments and important dates. However, even with the bloody thing she had managed to forget about her own daughter's fifth birthday. But it was normal, according to the healer and the books she read, to have a pregnancy brain and forget things. At least she had remembered with enough time left, like Draco had said.

"The twenty seventh is on a Sunday." Hermione remarked hopefully.

"Perfect. We'll send out invites tomorrow for people to come here on the twenty seventh at two and then we'll take care of the rest of the details in the morning, when the two of us aren't exhausted."

Hermione shook her head, "No, now; I can't sleep without getting this straightened out."

Draco sighed, "Well what do you want to do for her birthday?"

"It has to be a theme. Last year she had princesses, so I have to think of something different this year that Rose will like."

"What about that film she likes with the talking fish?"

"Nemo?"

"Yeah, we could have a special cake made up in the shape of a clown fish or whatever and find tropical fish decorations. It wouldn't be too hard," Draco stated excitedly and then added with a grin, "especially since we have magic at our disposal."

Hermione smiled, "You know, I think Rose will love it."

"Good, now go to sleep before you get up to pen the invitations."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Okay, I know it has been a while and I feel really bad about it! Especially since this isn't a really long chapter to make up for it. The truth is that I haven't had time to write this story and that I've had writer's block. Tonight I've been hit with some inspiration so I decided to go ahead and post the chapter I had for you guys. However, I should warn you all that this may happen again. This is my last semester of my undergraduate career and I've been busy with my capstone (which is like a senior project) and working on Grad school applications. And thank you again for all of the reviews, alerts, etc! :)**

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**Sunday May 27, 2007**

The day of Rose's fifth birthday started with a bang…literally.

In the midst of what was another potentially embarrassing dream, Draco was rudely awakened by the loud bang of their bedroom door slamming against the wall. Both he and Hermione bolted upright and saw their children fast approaching their bed.

"It's my birthday!" Rose yelled excitedly.

"Birthday!" Scorpius echoed.

Hermione held out her arms and gathered her red headed daughter into her warm embrace. After placing a kiss on the top of her hair she chuckled and asked: "Is banging open our door any way to start your birthday?"

"Sorry." Rose said softly, burrowing her face into Hermione's breasts.

Draco didn't blame the little girl; he longed to do it himself, though with quite different intentions. Hermione had had nice breasts before she was pregnant, but now…they just looked so inviting.

"So, what does the birthday girl want for breakfast?" Draco asked with a fond smile for Rose as Scorpius snuggled into his side.

"French toast!"

"Me too!" Scorpius chimed in.

Hermione smiled, "Alright, let the two of us get up and dressed before we go downstairs. In the mean time you two go put on some cartoons."

They needed no more urging and were soon flying out of the master bedroom and down the stairs.

Draco let out a sigh, "Well, we have quite a day ahead of us."

"Ginny is coming at noon to help us out and on her way she's picking up the cake."

"Thank Merlin, I thought I was going to have to go back to that muggle grocery store on my own."

Hermione laughed, "Really, Draco, it wasn't that bad."

"Those women were fighting over that ham!"

"Okay so they were a little extreme, but that doesn't happen every time you go in the store. Trust me, that's the first time I've seen women fighting over a ham."

"What about other items of food?" Draco asked with an arched brow.

Hermione hesitated, "Okay so I've seen ladies fight over Christmas goose before."

"Ha!"

Hermione huffed, "It still doesn't happen that often, Draco."

"If I had to I would have braved the store for Rose, but I will never fight over an item of food."

"A Malfoy lower himself to that level? I think hell would freeze over first."

Xxx

The party was quite a success; Rose loved it. Not only was the cake delicious, but it was also a fair depiction of a clown fish with a smiley face. While the kids ran around playing games, shouting, and stuffing their faces with cake, the adults sat and watched with fond smiles on their faces. Most of the conversation was focused on the children, and Hermione and Draco's plans for the their unborn child.

After a few hours the party had died down; all the children had gone home leaving only Blaise left at the house. Yet again he was without Jackie, who had gone with her sister to yet another Quidditch match, this time in Portugal.

"Something is up with you." Draco stated casually as he sat down next to Blaise on the couch.

Blaise was eating yet another piece of cake; he couldn't help himself, it was delicious. However, the fact that his self control had failed to keep him from a third piece of waist thickening cake was a warning sign for Draco.

"You never eat that much cake."

"Very true; it was well worth whatever you paid for it."

Draco shook his head, "There's more than just the quality of the cake going on here. And I can't help but notice that you are without Jackie once again."

Blaise sighed, "I think she's cheating on me; I think her sister's life has rubbed off on her."

"Don't jump to conclusions; she could just be supporting her sister."

Blaise shook his head, unconvinced, "When I started to get busier at the firm it severely cut down on our 'quality' time together, if you get my drift. I fear that she's turned somewhere else for that."

"Who needs her?"

"That's what I've been telling myself. Maybe it's for the best; maybe I am supposed to live the life of a bachelor. I can be that extremely sexy uncle for your children that all their friends have a crush on."

"That's disgusting."

"Now that I think about it, it is. Anyway, rest assured I will not let this affect my work on your case; I can promise you that."

"No doubt in my mind, Blaise. I trust you."

Blaise's face slowly transformed into a devilish grin, "So, have you thought of your grand gesture for Hermione yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Come on, Draco. You two need to get with it and actually be together when your kid comes. Just being married is not going to cut it for raising children in a loving home."

Draco was surprised at how serious Blaise was at that moment, not to mention the sound logic in his argument. Thinking back he realized that he and Hermione getting married didn't completely solve all the problems associated with this surprise pregnancy. If he and Hermione didn't actually love each other, they might as well not be married and raise the child. But Draco knew he could love her; he respected her, was attracted to her, and loved spending time with her. With a little time and a little nudge he knew he could love her, completely and totally. But what about her?

"Blaise, I know that I can love her; we just need to get on that level together. And I'm not sure she's ready or wants that level."

"Well, you never know until you try." Blaise shrugged.

Down the hall, hiding in the shadows Hermione listened, cupping her rounded belly in one of her hands, while the other was over her mouth, keeping her silent.

Xxx

Blaise left shortly after their conversation on the couch, leaving Draco to clean up the house while Hermione gave Rose and Scorpius their baths. Fortunately for Draco, cleaning was only a matter of a couple flicks of the wand, where as bathing the children was a little bit more involved, but a lot more fun.

By the time Draco and Hermione slipped into bed together, they were both pretty tired from the events of the day, but not so tired that they immediately went to sleep. Draco lay staring at the ceiling as Hermione consulted her bound journal. When she finally set it aside on the table Draco expected the light to go off, but instead he felt Hermione turn on her side to face him.

With the feeling that Hermione had something to say, Draco rolled over on his side to face her. He wasn't entirely sure what he expected her to say, but what she did surprised the hell out of him.

"I could love you Draco."

His face must have shown his extreme confusion slash shock because Hermione was quick to continue on.

"I heard you and Blaise talking earlier on the couch."

"Oh."

"He's right. We need to quit wasting time walking around like one day we're just going to wake up, look at each other and be deeply in love. We need to actually put more effort into it."

"How do we go about doing that?"

"That's the question." Hermione sighed. "But how else do people fall in love? They spend time together, go on dates."

"We do spend time together; we live together."

"I think what we need are more dates; more time for the two of us to just talk about things other than the children." Hermione stated.

"Agreed, tomorrow you and I have a lunch date."

Hermione smiled, "Sounds good to me."

Hermione suddenly grew red, "And well…these pregnancy hormones are quite a nuisance sometimes…and I well…I don't want to be huge as a whale when we have sex again."

Draco tried to hide his excitement, but he felt like a kid in a candy store, "Are you saying we can have sex now?"

"Well, maybe not right now, but after a few dates." Hermione chuckled.

Draco nodded his agreement; another part of him didn't quite agree with even having to wait another night, but he ignored that rude part of him. Now wasn't the time to complain; it was only a matter of a week or two and he would get to do more than just cuddle Hermione at night.

Xxx

**Monday May 28, 2007**

Both Harold and Blaise were missing that morning in the office. This time Draco didn't have to wonder where they gone. It was obvious they had gone to Greece; especially when Blaise had left a note on his door that simply said:

_Gyros; you understand, mate._

He did understand and he really didn't care what Harold and Blaise did as long as they got this mess dealt with. Besides, he had lunch plans with Hermione. Lunch plans to surpass any of their previous lunch engagements. He had decided it best to take their date to a muggle location and had decided to apparate them to the Wiltshire countryside where one his favorite family owned local restaurants was.

He had found the place years ago when he had left the Manor in an angry huff at the age of fourteen. He forgot what he was even mad about; something with his father about Hermione beating him for first in their year no doubt. In the end he had gotten hungry and found himself outside the charming little place that housed the family above stairs.

Consequently, when he and Hermione walked into the place he was immediately greeted with the familiar smile of old Mrs. Henry.

"Draco dear! So good to see you!" She smiled as she approached the two of them with two menus in hand. "And who might this be?"

"This is my wife, Hermione."

"Your wife! And if my eyes aren't mistaken me it would seem you have a little one on the way! My stars, it seems like only yesterday you came in here as a little teenager and now you're having another baby! Lovely to meet you Hermione; the two of you make quite a handsome couple."

Draco and Hermione exchanged smiles and followed Mrs. Henry to a table for two in a secluded part of the restaurant. Mrs. Henry, it seemed, was as perceptive as ever.

"Now before I leave you two to each other's company and that of my granddaughter's, who will be your waitress, might I ask what you two are expecting?"

"Of course." Hermione smiled. "We're having a girl, Madeline, in September."

"How lovely! I always wanted a girl of my own, but the Lord blessed me with four sons instead. Thankfully, he saw it fit to give me many granddaughters to make up for it. Dessert of your choice is on the house today, so you two enjoy yourselves."

And with that Mrs. Henry walked away to tend to some other customers.

"How did you come to find this place as a teenager, Draco?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I stormed out of the manor one day after an argument with my father and stumbled upon this place. Mrs. Henry immediately took me under her wing and fed me so much food I thought I would burst. After that, every chance I got I snuck out of the manor and came here. They have the best carrot cake, which is what we should get for that free dessert she mentioned."

"What was the fight about?"

"The fight?" Draco asked in confusion, having been distracted at the prospect of carrot cake, "Oh yeah. I think it was over you actually. I had come home for the summer and yet again my Father was upset that you had bested me as top of the class."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You deserved to be top of our class, but I suppose those fights with my Father added to my antagonistic nature towards you."

"Understandable."

"I always thought you were brilliant though, even when I called you foul names." Draco admitted quietly. "However, it wasn't until sixth year that I really thought about what I was doing to you and it really affected me; especially with all the other stuff going on. It was a hard year."

Hermione nodded her agreement, "It's all water under the bridge now. I've forgiven you and now all that happened between us then is nothing but a footnote in the rest of our lives together."

At that moment Mrs. Henry's granddaughter walked up to take their orders, breaking off the conversation they had been having. Lunch was delicious as usual and Hermione absolutely loved the carrot cake. The two of them returned to the office hand in hand, laughing at the memory of the look on Draco's face when two giant pieces of carrot cake had arrived at their table.

Their laughter immediately died out when they heard shouting coming from the vicinity of Harold's office. After sending each other a worried look, they quickly moved in that direction and were surprised at what they saw. Fully expecting to see Astoria, they were not prepared for what was actually in that room.

"Hello Draco, hello Hermione, I'm here to help." Pansy Parkinson grinned as she took in the sight of the married couple holding hands, both with stunned looks on their faces as they looked at her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Thanks for your reviews, alerts, favorites, and your patience. :)**

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**Monday May 28, 2007**

"Pansy? What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Draco asked, completely in shock. No one had seen Pansy Parkinson for years. Rumor had it that she had married some old pureblooded German and that he had died shortly after, leaving her a vast fortune to add to what she already had from her family.

"Draco, is that any way to talk to one of your old friends?" Pansy grinned. "It must be going around because Blaise was just as shocked to see me as you."

Sure enough Blaise looked as dumbfounded as Draco and Hermione did at that moment. In fact, the only person that didn't look surprised to see Pansy was Harold.

"Harold called me here to help with your case." Pansy said. "You see my husband, Hans, was friends with Kostos Stavros. Unfortunately, Hans died a few months ago, but I think I may still have an in with Kostos to help you out."

"So, I take it your Knockturn Alley guy couldn't quite figure out everything, Blaise?"

Blaise shook his head, "There's only so much a hobo can figure out in Greece, Draco. But I had no idea Harold had Pansy up his sleeve!"

"Pansy has agreed to help us, and we definitely need her way in, so let's be courteous." Harold inserted. "In fact, Pansy may already have an idea of what is going on."

Pansy nodded her head in agreement, "A little before Hans died he talked of the new woman Stavros was interested in. You have to understand that Stavros had been married for years to some other pureblooded Greek, but they could never produce a child—a living one anyway. The poor witch finally died delivering a stillborn baby, releasing Stavros to find someone else to breed with. However, he wants to keep his blood pure. Unfortunately for him, all the other purebloods in Greece are either related to him, male, or related to his previous wife. So, he told Hans he had expanded his search and found a pureblood from another country that had already given birth to a pureblooded child and was single."

"Astoria." Draco filled in.

Pansy nodded, "That's my guess, but there's no way to know for sure. I figure that Astoria's sudden interest in Scorpius is to show her 'maternal' potential so she can score with Stavros. He is bloody loaded, more so than even you, Draco."

Blaise chuckled, "Probably why your ancestors didn't like each other."

"Anyway, tomorrow I head for Greece and intend to impose myself on Stavros as his friend's grieving widow. From that position I will try to find out all I can."

"I'm going with you." Blaise insisted.

"And pose as what? My butler?" Pansy laughed.

"I won't stay there, Parkinson. I would stay at a hotel, but still be around to keep an eye on you and what's happening at the house."

"Sounds like a good idea to me, Zabini." Harold agreed. "The two of you will travel to Greece in the morning."

Xxx

**Saturday June 2, 2007**

Somehow the Potters and Blaise were able to keep the party a secret from Hermione and also managed to keep Draco in the dark about the baby shower portion of the festivities.

The day before Hermione had finished with her class, and had officially earned her title of lawyer. The partners had yet to find a replacement for her current job so until her maternity leave began she would continue on as she was, while the partners found her replacement. Then, when she came back after her maternity leave she would take her place as a lawyer within the firm.

Blaise had shown up at the Malfoy house early that morning, urging Draco to take Hermione and the kids out for the day. So once the Malfoys had vacated the house, the Potters and Blaise efficiently took over the house and transformed it into a space worthy of hosting a baby shower slash celebration of Hermione's new status as a lawyer.

By the time they were done the living room was hardly recognizable. Half of the room was dedicated to the baby shower, with decorations in a pleasing light purple color. The other half of the room was decked out with streamers and 'congratulations' signs.

About a half hour before the Malfoys were due to arrive back at their house, guests trickled in. Draco's mother was last to arrive and quickly pulled a small package out of her pocket. With a quick wave of her wand the box leapt from her hands and grew almost larger than the couch.

"There are a lot of items in there." She defended at the shocked faces all around her.

All questions were cut off when they heard noise on the doorstep announcing the arrival of the Malfoys. Everyone seemed to hold their breaths as the family walked in and then collectively yelled 'Surprise!'

Rose and Scorpius immediately got swept up in the excitement and upon seeing the Potter kids, ran off to join them in the corner of the living room where the kids toys had been set out to entertain them. Meanwhile, Hermione was absolutely wide eyed; the whole thing had been a complete surprise to her. Her eyes watered as she took in the sight of both her congratulations signs and the baby decorations. Beside her Draco's gaze was full of wonder as he surveyed the baby shower portion of the party. He had been expecting the other half, but this was a complete shock to him.

"A baby shower and a party for my course completion?" Hermione smiled through her tears. "You guys are the best!"

Then she turned to Draco, "Did you know about this?"

"The baby shower part is just as much as a surprise to me as it is to you." He smiled.

"Well, don't just stand there talking about it you two!" Ginny beamed. "Come and enjoy the party!"

After snacking on some of the delicious treats Mrs. Weasley had made and eaten a good portion of the cake, Narcissa insisted they move on to the gift opening portion of the baby shower.

"Mine first, dears." Narcissa smiled as she pointed her gift out to her son.

"Bloody hell, Mother. What is in here?"

Narcissa just grinned and said nothing at all; leaving Hermione and Draco to tear open the pink paper. Inside was a crib; a beautiful one at that. It wasn't put together, but according to the box was a self assembling one. From the picture they could see that the crib was white and ornately carved with flowers. Along with the crib was a bedding set and a variety of stuffed animals; a few of which were dragons.

"This is wonderful Narcissa, thank you so much." Hermione gushed.

"Only the best for my Granddaughter, Madeline Narcissa." Narcissa replied with a proud smile.

After opening more and more clothes, toys, and other important baby accessories the party slowly dissipated, leaving only the Potters and Blaise left. The children were snuggled together on the couch watching one of the animated movies they had lying around, leaving the adults to clean up the party.

"This was great guys, thank you so much."

"You deserved it, Hermione." Ginny insisted. "And when Blaise told us Draco would love to be at a baby shower too, we knew that part had to be a surprise from him to."

"I loved it." Draco insisted, and slapped his best friend, Blaise, on the back to show his gratitude.

"So, we're having dinner on Tuesday for Draco's birthday, right?"

"Yup, I'm cooking dinner here for us." Hermione replied happily.

Draco scowled, "I'm helping you."

"No, you're not; it's for your birthday!"

Xxx

**Tuesday June 5, 2007**

Draco had gotten his way, obviously. Hermione found it hard to say no to the man when he walked into the kitchen in a pair of arse hugging trousers and a frilly apron covering up his white oxford shirt. The hormones were really getting to her in this period of her pregnancy. However, she didn't think the two of them were quite ready to jump into bed together.

"You know that a little bit of magic could speed this whole process up, Hermione." Draco smirked as he gently removed the knife from her grip.

Before she knew what he was about the whole kitchen was charmed and preparing dinner for their party without any help from either of them, which left the two of them to their own devices. Hermione was trapped in Draco's arms and carefully maneuvered herself so she was facing him.

"Now what are we supposed to do?"

"I have an idea." Draco smirked and pulled Hermione closer into him.

The next thing Hermione knew her belly was pressed against his and her arms were around his neck. Their eyes gazed into one another's searching each other for what the other desperately wanted to see. For Draco it was permission; he wanted to kiss this witch right here in the kitchen with their child pressed securely between them.

"Kiss me already." Hermione demanded with a sigh.

"Typical, bossy, Granger." Draco grinned, but didn't seem to mind her demand as he leaned down and captured her soft lips with his own.

The last few days had been building up to this moment. They had shared small kisses-pecks really- since their lunch date the other day, but nothing like this. It had all been a build up to this moment, the moment that their relationship reached the next level; a level closer to what they both so obviously desired.

The kiss seemed to go on for hours, but really only lasted a few minutes when their children raced into the kitchen each with a stuffed dragon Narcissa had gotten for them. The adults broke apart guiltily and looked down at their children who seemed to be in possession of each other's dragons. Rose was clutching Scorpius' green dragon, and Scorpius had her pink one and neither of them looked too happy about it.

"Daddy, Scorpius took my dragon and won't give it back." Rose stated defiantly.

Hermione and Draco turned to each other in surprise. Rose had never directly addressed Draco in such a way. Neither of them had really addressed the issue directly, besides saying that Draco was her step father. But up until that point Rose had never really had occasion to directly address Draco as such. He rather liked it, but both he and Hermione were agreed that Rose be raised knowing all about her real Father.

Smiling Draco answered Rose, "Well Rosie, it looks like you're in possession of Scorpius' dragon."

"He took mine first!"

"And why did he take your dragon?" Draco asked turning a look on his son who looked rather guilty.

Scorpius didn't say a thing though and Rose simply shrugged, "I was in the baby's room settling in her animals when Scorpius came in waving my dragon around teasing me."

Hermione shot Draco a knowing look, "It sounds like Scorpius wanted your attention, Rose. You have been spending a lot of time in the baby's room and not playing with him lately."

"I just want everything ready for her!"

Hermione laughed, "You have plenty of time until she comes. In the mean time you should include your brother in your activities because Madeline is going to be his sister too and I'm sure he wants to prepare things for her just as much as you do, right Scorpius?"

The blonde nodded his head in agreement, still clutching on to Rose's pink dragon as if it were a lifeline.

Rose turned to her brother, "I'm sorry Scorp."

With that said she threw her arms around Scorpius and hugged him tightly. After a few seconds the children pulled apart and then ran off towards their playroom with smiles on their faces.

"It seems that they have slipped into sibling roles instead of best friends now." Hermione mused. "That means that when the baby comes there are going to be a lot of these moments."

"Nothing we can't handle." Draco said confidently.

"Very true."

Xxx

Dinner went off without a hitch. The children were getting along and so were all of the adults. Draco hadn't wanted any presents, so after dinner the guests left leaving Hermione and Draco to their routine of putting the kids to bed after cleaning up.

When Draco finished tucking the kids in he found Hermione done with her shower and in bed waiting for him with a smile and a package resting on his side of the bed next to her.

"I thought I said I didn't want anything for my birthday besides a dinner?" Draco asked with a small smile.

"As your wife, that doesn't apply to me." Hermione replied confidently. "Now come here and open it."

Draco crossed the room with a smile on his face and sat down on the bed with his wife. The package wasn't that large and was wrapped in shiny balloon wrapping paper that he recognized from Rose's birthday party. A quick glance at Hermione told him that she was eager for him to hurry up and open the gift already so, reaching out he started to rip away the paper.

Once the paper was gone Draco looked down at a scrapbook with the title 'Daddy and Madeline'. Obviously the book was not filled, but Hermione had already started it. On the front cover was a picture of Draco stroking Hermione's belly. After opening up the book Draco found all of the pictures from their doctor's appointment and pictures of himself opening gifts with Hermione at the baby shower.

"Do you like it?" Hermione asked eagerly. "As the years go by I will continue to add to this for you. You missed so much with Scorpius that I don't want you to miss a thing with her."

Draco looked up at Hermione with a huge smile on his face, "I love it, Hermione. This is the best present I could have asked for, besides Madeline, herself, of course."

"Of course." Hermione grinned.

Setting the book carefully aside, Draco pulled Hermione close to him and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The next thing Hermione knew Draco's lips were glued to hers and she was on her back on the bed. That night marked the beginning of the next level of their relationship and the first time they had sex sober.


	21. Chapter 21

I hate to do these author's notes that get your hopes up for another update, but I just updated yesterday and don't have anything else to upload yet.

Anyway, the reason why I am making one of these author's notes is because it was brought to my attention that there was some confusion about Pansy's appearance on the scene because of her divorce case back in chapter 3. Yeah...that was a big oops on my part. I started writing this story back in February or March and did not touch it at all the entire summer, so I honestly did not remember that. I apologize, and I went back and changed the names in chapter 3 and replaced the chapter. If there are any other mentions of Pansy's divorce case in other chapters just disregard them because I changed whose case that was. At this point, as far as any of us are concerned, Pansy just appeared here recently and that's what is important for what I'm working on now.

Thank you for your understanding and sorry for any confusion.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**In regards to my author's note: at this point I think I have fixed the error entirely. I replaced chapters 2, 3, and 4: so hopefully there is no more confusion. Thank you for your understanding, reviews, alerts, favorites, etc.**

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**Monday July 2, 2007**

The rest of June passed by quickly. No one had heard from Pansy or Blaise since they travelled to Greece weeks ago and both Harold and Draco were starting to get worried. The court date had officially been set for the beginning of August and Astoria and her fancy Spanish lawyer were already working on improving the public opinion of Astoria.

Just last week Astoria had been 'spotted' volunteering at a children's hospital. To those at the office it was obviously staged, but the general public was a lot easier to convince. However, Draco found that he couldn't be too concerned about Astoria's exploits in trying to look like a good person. He was, after all, married and having a baby with Hermione Granger.

By now it was obvious to everyone with the ability to see that Hermione was pregnant. At seven months, her belly proudly stuck out announcing to the world that she carried the first half blooded Malfoy.

Just this past weekend, Draco had taken Hermione and the kids out for a public appearance of their own. After taking the kids to the park, the family made their way to Diagon Alley for a very public enjoyment of ice cream. And sure enough, it was the featured headline of the paper today.

"I mean, really, isn't there anything else more important than what we do as a family?" Hermione asked disgustedly as she tossed the _Daily Prophet_ back onto Draco's desk from her position in Draco's lap.

Draco smiled and shook his head as he rested his chin on the top of Hermione's curly hair and wrapped his hands around her belly. How he loved their lunch breaks now that their relationship had changed for the better. There was nothing better than snuggling up and talking in his office as they ate sandwiches.

"You know that this paper is mostly trash, Hermione. There really is nothing more interesting for them to report about. I guess we can be partially thankful for that in a sense."

"True, at least there isn't any war to report on."

"In the mean time—"

"Oh, Draco! I'm back!" Blaise sang as he barged into Draco's office with Pansy trailing behind.

"We're back!" Pansy corrected with an elbow into Blaise's side. He grunted and sent Pansy a scowl, but said nothing as he watched the couple behind the desk.

"I see you two finally came to your senses and moved things along." Blaise grinned.

"Yes, we did. However, I am much more interested in what the two of you learned while you were in Greece." Draco retorted as Blaise and Pansy sat themselves down in the two chairs on the opposite side of his desk.

The two of them shared a knowing look before turning back to Draco with smiles on their faces, "It was an interesting trip; that's for sure." Pansy said secretively.

"Well, we're all ears here." Hermione interjected.

"All ears?" Blaise laughed. "What the bloody hell?"

"It's a muggle thing, Blaise. Now shut up and tell us what you learned!" Draco yelled.

"Well, it all began on the day we arrived." Pansy said dreamily.

"Obviously it began on the day you arrived, Parkinson." Draco rolled his eyes.

Pansy shot him a scowl, "Do you want to know or not?"

"Go on, go on."

"_What bloody coordinates did you give the Port Key office, Blaise?!" Pansy shrieked as she looked down at the sheep excrement her brand new, shiny, red pumps were now coated in._

_Blaise stifled a laugh and looked around their surroundings. They were definitely not in the city like they were supposed to be: someone had messed up and he doubted that it was himself. He had given the correct coordinates before when he and Harold had made a trip and they had not ended up in some field full of sheep. _

"_I gave them the correct coordinates, Pansy. I'm not an idiot."_

"_That's debatable." Pansy mumbled as she pulled her wand from her robe pocket. "Come on, I'll apparate us out of here; I know exactly where I want to be right now."_

"_Not so fast, Parkinson. I can apparate us out of here just as easily as you can."_

"_Where to? Another sheep field?"_

"_Ha ha. Aren't we going our separate ways anyway? I've got a hotel reservation to make and you have Kostos' sympathy to work. I assume you know how to get there."_

"_I do."_

"_Good, well then, I'll leave you to it. I expect you to report back to me in a few days. I'll be staying at the Olive Pit."_

_With that said, he apparated away leaving Pansy standing there fuming, sheep shit still on her shoes._

_Xxx_

_It was easy enough to locate the Olive Pit, and even easier to find Zabini at the pool surrounded by a gaggle of Greek women. Rolling her eyes and steeling herself for a confrontation, Pansy approached the lounger the dark man was stretched out on._

"_Ahem." _

_Blaise and the three girls looked up at the intruder. The girls looked embarrassed, whereas Blaise only smirked before murmuring something in Greek that sent the girls rushing away, giggling to one another._

"_You are disgusting." Pansy sneered. "I thought you had a girlfriend."_

"_Not anymore. I'm a free agent and those nice ladies wanted to bring me food and drink in return for the pleasure of my company." Blaise grinned._

"_What happened with your girlfriend?"_

_Blaise sighed, his good mood shattered, "She decided to become promiscuous while still attached to me. Now what exactly are you here for? I hope you have news to share?"_

_Pansy nodded and took a seat on the lounger next to his, "Indeed, I do."_

"_I take it Stavros took you in?"_

"_Yes, Kostos played right into my hand. In fact, he spent the first night crying on my shoulder about Hans. I conjured up some tears of my own, even though I'm relieved to be free of the bastard."_

"_I heard rumors he was abusive, was that true?" Blaise asked seriously._

_Pansy shrugged his question off and returned to the topic she had come to discuss, "Anyway, I haven't been able to learn much. There definitely has been a woman's touch in his house and I would recognize Astoria's gaudy taste anywhere. There is also a little boy's room all done up and a nursery, neither of them used, but waiting. It's really quite creepy."_

"_Do you think Kostos has any idea of the fact that Astoria does not have custody?" Blaise asked curiously._

"_I don't know. He has been away most of the week on business and I've only been able to snoop around the house. He's back this week and I plan on getting him drunk and seeing what I can get out of him. He was always quite talkative with a few drinks in him, if I remember correctly."_

"_Just be careful, Pansy."_

"_I know what I'm doing."_

_Xxx_

_A few days later when Pansy went to report in she found Blaise poolside again. However, this time he was alone and seemed to be working on a tan…as if he needed one. His eyes were covered with sunglasses and they must have been closed because she had to clear her throat before he seemed to realize she was there at all._

"_Learn anything new?" He asked as he sat up in the lounger and pulled off his shades._

_Pansy nodded, "I got him drunk last night. However, he wasn't as talkative as I remember, but at least I confirmed that his lady is Astoria. Sadly, that was all I was able to learn besides that Astoria is in town tonight and he's taking her to dinner at eight."_

"_Where?"_

"_That place down on the corner from here."_

"_We're going there as well. Go out and get yourself a fancy dress and a glamour charm to mask yourself, Parkinson."_

"_Are you joking?"_

"_Nope. I'll disguise myself as well. Meet me here at eight and we'll go."_

_When eight rolled around Pansy was waiting in the lobby of Blaise's hotel wondering how the bloody hell he was going to recognize her with this glamour charm. Though she loved her shiny black hair, she decided tonight was her chance to find out what the big appeal of being a blonde was. And as she usually wore her hair pin straight, she decided to throw in some voluptuous curls to really throw people off the scent. Besides her hair, she didn't change too much of her appearance. Her brown eyes paired well with the blonde hair and besides wearing more makeup than normal, she was still the same old Pansy. However, a look in the mirror confirmed just how different she must look to everyone else._

_Pansy was also worried she wouldn't be able to identify Blaise in his glamour, but when the tall, olive skinned man strutted out of the lift, she knew immediately that it was Blaise. His skin and hair may have been lighter, but there was no mistaking the strut and grin on the man._

_And judging from the size of his grin he recognized Pansy immediately as well._

"_Blonde looks good on you." He smirked. "You need a code name and tonight you look like a Daisy to me."_

_Pansy quirked a brow, "Do I get to give you a code name?"_

"_Sure."_

"_You look particularly Greek tonight, so I think I shall call you, Alkandros."_

"_What the bloody hell? Where did you get that?"_

"_Never mind where I got it, Alkandros, let's go to dinner now."_

_After paying off the hostess, the two of them d secured a table within sight and sound of Kostos and Astoria. There was no mistaking the couple as they laughed loudly, drank heartily, and kissed passionately without a thought for those that may be watching them. However, most of what they talked about did not prove useful to Blaise and Pansy._

"_Well, it's been an hour and all we know is that Astoria bought new lingerie they are going to use tonight in a variety of ways." Pansy sighed before taking another sip of her wine. _

_Blaise ran a hand through his hair, "Okay, so, it's probably best that you do not go back to his place tonight."_

"_Yeah, so I don't have to hear that all night."_

_Blaise chuckled, "That too, but I was thinking more about not letting Astoria see you. Kostos hasn't said anything about you to her, and I doubt he will. The man isn't about to risk a sure thing by mentioning he's been playing host to a young widow."_

"_Where am I supposed to go then?"_

"_I have a hotel room, Pa-Daisy, with a pull out bed."_

"_Sounds like it will be immensely comfortable for you." Pansy grinned._

_Blaise scowled, "I was thinking you would sleep in it. I am a tall man, in case you haven't noticed."_

"_Oh, I've noticed." Pansy blurted out before finishing her wine in one huge swallow. "It's hard not to notice."_

"_Well, then, you can see why it makes more sense for you to take the pull out bed."_

"_Or we could share the bed?" Pansy suggested, and then laughed at Blaise's astonished face. "Oh, come on, Alkandros, I thought you would be the one playing that card."_

"_How much wine have you had?"_

"_The same as you: two glasses. I am fully aware of what I'm saying."_

"_Are you suggesting we sleep together?!"_

"_Yes, precisely that. Sleep together. Nothing more."_

_Blaise looked embarrassed, "I see."_

"_Do you want it to be more?" Pansy asked seriously._

"_Can I be honest with you, P-Daisy?"_

"_Of course."_

"_As soon as I saw you with that blonde hair I wanted to shag you."_

"_What about when I'm plain old me?"_

"_I still want to shag you, but I'm able to control it. You with blonde hair though? It's intoxicating."_

_Pansy quirked a brow, "Really?"_

_Blaise nodded, "What about you? Do you want to shag me?"_

"_Yes, especially you as Alkandros."_

"_Then what are we doing here watching those two moon over each other when we could be doing much more productive things in my hotel room?"_

_Xxx_

"What?! You two shagged!?" Draco screeched, causing Hermione to wince from her position on his lap.

"Yes, and if you'll let us continue you'll see that it's all part of the story." Blaise replied calmly.

Draco rolled his eyes and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "Yes, go on."

Xxx

_Pansy awoke to the feeling of pressure. A quick survey confirmed that she was snuggled up to a very naked Blaise, whose arms were holding her tight to him and one leg was thrown over her own legs. Despite being unused to the feeling, it was not an uncomfortable position for her. In fact, it was quite nice._

_Even nicer when a moment later Blaise opened his eyes and smiled down into her own._

"_Good morning."_

"_Good morning." She responded. "I can't believe we shagged."_

"_Multiple times." Blaise smirked. "And it was absobloodylutely amazing."_

_Pansy grinned, "It was. So, what now?"_

"_Well, you go back to Kostos' house to try to find out more information today and come back to spend the night with me. As for right now, I say we have another go."_

_Xxx_

"Okay, do we really need these details?" Draco interrupted.

"It's all part of the story, Draco." Pansy stated. "Do you want to know what we found out or not?"

"Yes, but I don't see why we need to know every little detail of your side story."

"It'll all make sense once you let us continue."

"Fine, fine."

Xxx

_Time went by rather quickly after that for Blaise and Pansy. The days were filled with finding out all they could about Kostos and his relationship with Astoria and the evenings were filled with shagging: tons of it._

_Blaise was waiting for another round of shagging on his hotel bed, a bottle of wine beside him on the table when the door was thrown open and Pansy came charging in. She didn't even seem to realize Blaise was naked and waiting for her as she jumped up and down excitedly._

"_Get dressed now; we have to follow Kostos and Astoria!"_

_Blaise raised a brow, "What's going on?"_

"_I think they're going to get married."_

"_What?!"_

"_Get dressed and let's go, Blaise!"_

_Blaise needed no more urging and jumped off the bed to begin his search for his trousers. Once he was dressed, the two of them left the hotel room and the waiting bottle of wine behind. Blaise followed Pansy closely as she navigated the streets confidently. He had no idea where they were headed, but obviously she did._

_It took them a bit of walking, but when they finally caught sight of Kostos and Astoria standing in the Enchanted Gardens in the town square they both breathed a sigh of relief. They were about to get married, Blaise realized, when he saw the man in robes standing before them._

_The two of them moved closer to the couple, straining to hear what was being said, and being careful not to give their presence away._

"_I promise to provide you with many children: starting with my son Scorpius." Astoria stated with a smile._

"_Where is Scorpius?" Kostos asked._

"_With my Mother on a trip to France." Astoria lied smoothly with a radiant smile. "Let's continue, shall we?"_

_Blaise and Pansy exchanged a glance. It appeared that both of them were debating whether or not to break this marriage ceremony up. If they revealed themselves, they could possibly jeopardize the entire case, and if they just let the two of them get married that meant even more problems to deal with in the case._

_Thinking quickly, Blaise cast his glamour charm that turned him into Alkandros and gestured that Pansy do the same. She had no idea what he was up to, but complied anyway. Once she was turned into the blonde Blaise had so loved that night a while ago, he stood up and charged up to the couple and the official._

"_Excuse me!" Blaise said loudly. "It was my understanding that my fiancé and I were to be wed tonight at this very time and in this very spot!"_

_The official looked at Blaise and Pansy wide eyed before nervously flipping through the book in his hands. Meanwhile, Kostos and Astoria were obviously aggravated at the interruption to their wedded bliss, especially Astoria. _

"_I believe you are wrong, sir. My fiancé and I are set to be married here and now." Astoria snapped. "Now reschedule and leave us to our ceremony."_

"_Astoria, there may have been a double booking." Kostos said soothingly, and then turned to the official, "Isn't that right, sir?"_

"_Uh, yes." The official replied uneasily. The truth was that he had forgot the list of ceremonies to be performed and had no clue which couple was the correct couple to be married here tonight. But he wasn't about to advertise his mistake._

"_In that case, the two of us can wait." Kostos said which sent Astoria into a fit of protests. "Come on now, Tori, we have plenty of time to get married. I did want your son to be here with us and now we can wait until he can."_

_Pansy and Blaise had to fight to hold in their grins as Astoria carefully schooled her face into one of acceptance._

"_Alright, some other time." She finally agreed. "I wanted a better ceremony than this anyway."_

"_And you shall have it." Kostos promised._

_With that said the couple walked out of the garden and disappeared into the night, leaving Pansy and Blaise standing with the official. _

"_Well, I guess it's your marriage I will be performing tonight." The official shrugged._

_Blaise and Pansy exchanged a look. They couldn't just walk away after that little drama: especially since he was a Greek Ministry Official. And what could it hurt? They weren't themselves anyway._

Xxx

"So, that's what we learned. Kostos wants Astoria for children and Scorpius is her proof that she can have children. Our guess is that he thinks she will be a good Mother, because that is what she has led him to believe. Astoria's motives are entirely for money, but what else is new?" Blaise summed up.

Hermione and Draco were wide eyed. Not because of what they had learned about Astoria's motives, but at the last part of Blaise and Pansy's own story. It was apparent that neither one of them realized just what they had done.

"What kind of ceremony was performed?" Hermione asked curiously.

"A traditional marriage ceremony with fake names, therefore, it's null and void." Pansy replied carelessly.

"Did he perform the circle of unity?"

"The circle of unity?" Blaise asked in confusion.

"The Greeks still typically include that in standard marriage ceremonies, making them permanent. The circle of unity also has no care for the law and what names are given. It's a binding of souls."

Both Pansy and Blaise paled at Hermione's words.

Pansy inhaled sharply, "We're bonded for life?!"

"Hermione and I aren't even bonded for life!" Draco inserted with a laugh. "You two are stuck together forever!"

Hermione turned her head sharply to look Draco in the eye, "Does that mean you are glad you aren't stuck with me for the rest of your life?"

"That's not what I meant! I just meant that we were just married legally and didn't have the circle unity performed at our marriage."

"Well, we still can."

"Is that a threat?" Draco asked with an amused grin.

"Yes, it is."

"Excuse us, but we're in a crisis here and you two are flirting!" Blaise interrupted with a note of hysteria in his voice.

Hermione turned back around to face the stunned pair and smiled in a way she hoped was comforting to them. "Thank you two so much for going to Greece to find out Astoria's motives. You have done us a huge favor, and the only way we can return it is by helping you out through this realization. Especially since this happened to you while performing duties for us."

Draco nodded his head in agreement, "However, I'm afraid you two are bonded together for life. That shouldn't be too hard considering how much you two enjoyed shagging, 'eh?"

Draco was met with silence.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**I'm sorry this update has taken so long, but sadly, that is how it's going to go from now on. I only have about 5 weeks until I graduate and I have a huge paper to write, as well as other projects to work on. Just know that I do plan on finishing this story. Thank you for all of the continued support! Also, please forgive any mistakes in this chapter; I wrote most of it tonight and only edited it once because I wanted to get this up as soon as possible for you guys.  
**

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**Saturday July 28, 2007**

With the court date set for late next week, Draco and Hermione wanted the weekend to be all about relaxation for the two of them and the children. Relaxing did not usually come easily to Hermione, who always liked to have her mind occupied with something constructive, but with an enormous belly bogging her down, the idea of relaxing and doing nothing was simply intoxicating.

Draco insisted on pampering her lately and that included today. He had set up a lounge chair for her outside. It was overflowing with pillows and next to it sat a table stacked with romance books, snacks, and fresh lemonade. He also made sure her chair provided a good view of their children playing on their fort.

After playing with Rose and Scorpius for a while, Draco joined Hermione on the deck with a wide smile. She looked beautiful lounging there with her wavy brown hair around her shoulders, and the bridge of her nose freckled from being out in the sun.

"What are you staring at?" Hermione asked as she set her romance down on her belly.

"My beautiful wife." Draco answered with a grin. "That sounded really cheesy, but it's the truth."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I don't believe you, but it's nice to hear, anyway."

"What could be more beautiful than you pregnant with my child and freckles on the bridge of your nose?"

Hermione laughed and ran a finger over her nose subconsciously. She knew they were there: they always came out when she had been in the sun for a little while. She was just surprised that he liked them so well.

"Have you heard from Blaise and Pansy?" Hermione asked curiously.

After the discovery that they were tied together for the rest of their lives a few weeks ago, Pansy and Blaise had been through quite a bit. The first two days after the revelation they avoided each other and pretended their time in Greece never happened. Then, they both received notification from the Ministry of their bonding and were forced to meet up and discuss the implications. As a bonded couple, their rights were a bit different from other regularly married couples, especially since they had been bonded out of the country. They could live apart, but only after living a full year together. If after that time they decided to go their separate ways they could, but neither would be able to marry another- their souls were bonded for life. If, after their year together, they decided to stay with each other they would go through with the legal marriage ceremony performed by the Ministry in the UK.

"They seem to be settling in nicely together." Draco replied. "After they resigned themselves to their fate, it got a lot easier. Plus, they shag like rabbits so the first year will fly by for them."

"They better be careful not to get pregnant if they want to separate after a year." Hermione sighed.

"The Ministry can't force them to live together after a year if they don't want to, even if they have a child."

"I know that, Draco, but think of the child."

Draco nodded his head in understanding, "They're smart. Besides, I think they'll stay together forever."

"You do?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Thinking back, it was always pretty obvious that they would be good together. Okay, well, maybe not always. Like when Pansy hung all over me, but after that, yes."

Hermione chuckled, "You're right. I haven't known either of them as long as you obviously, but they do mesh well together now."

"Kind of like us." Draco smiled.

The two were interrupted a moment later when their children ran at them shrieking with laughter. Apparently, they had decided to race to Mommy and Daddy and the victor was the one that got to sit on Hermione's lap. Hermione and Draco had only discovered the children's love for sitting on her lap a few nights ago when the two fought for the opportunity. Apparently, the size of her belly and breasts was extremely comfortable for the little ones to snuggle against. Draco could sympathize: her breasts were amazing at the moment.

As Rose was the victor of the little race, Scorpius pouted as he watched his sister snuggle into Hermione's belly with a contented smile on her face.

"You two are ridiculous." Hermione laughed. "Rose, make some room for your brother."

Rose sighed, "I suppose I can."

Hermione and Draco exchanged a look as Rose scooted over and made room for Scorpius to snuggle in on Hermione's lap. Together they ran their hands over Hermione's belly and then started talking to their little sister. They had never done that before, but with Rose's lead, Scorpius joined right in.

"Maddie is in there." Rose whispered to Scorpius. "She's our baby sister."

Hermione felt her eyes water: darn these hormones. A look at Draco revealed he was not immune to the cuteness going on either, however, he was not turning into a waterfall like Hermione was. Instead, he had a content smile on his face.

Xxx

**Thursday August 2, 2007**

The day of the trial arrived bright and clear. The children were sent to the Burrow and Hermione and Draco headed into the Ministry early to meet with Blaise and Harold. Even though they were sure they had the case in the bag, the air was still thick with tension. Astoria had proven to be unpredictable before, and she could pull something else today just when they were ready to get this over with.

"Today we are here to determine the permanent custody of Scorpius Malfoy between his biological parents, Draco Malfoy, and Astoria Greengrass. Let the record show that Ms. Greengrass previously signed over her parental rights and is now opposing her previous actions on grounds of temporary insanity."

"Temporary insanity?" Draco hissed through his teeth at Blaise and Harold, who sat at the table beside him.

Blaise nodded his head as he looked over his materials, "Turns out she somehow got a Healer to say she had post-partum depression. Don't worry, mate, we've got this covered. All we have to do is show how bad a Mother she is and what her real motives are."

Thanks to Astoria's fancy Spanish lawyer, the case lasted hours. First, both Astoria and Draco had testified on the events that led up to Astoria walking out of Scorpius' life and leaving him in the complete care of Draco. Obviously, the stories differed. Unfortunately, there was no solid evidence to support Draco's story, but thankfully, there was none that supported Astoria's side.

After that it was time to discuss how good of a parent each of them was. Draco was first. He watched as Hermione and Harry both testified on his skills as a Father and about his change from the infamous youth to the respectable man he now was. Astoria countered Draco's weighty testimonies with her exploits volunteering with sick children and helping the elderly. Draco smirked at how fake the people testifying on her behalf were. They were obviously being paid, and the courtroom would have to be blind not to realize that.

The time came for Blaise and Harold to present the information they had discovered. Astoria had no idea what was about to come to her. In fact, not even Draco knew what Blaise and Harold had been up to in their last days of preparation for the case. So, it made sense that when Blaise called their next witness to the stand, that Draco was just as shocked as Astoria was.

"We call to the stand Kostos Stavros."

Kostos had been hidden at the back of the courtroom with a concealment charm so Astoria would not know he was there. In the meantime, Kostos had heard everything presented in the case, including how Scorpius had been in his Father's care the entire time he had known Astoria.

"Please tell us your association with Astoria Greengrass, Kostos." Blaise began.

"She is-was my fiancé."

Blaise snuck a quick peek at Astoria and was pleased to see her crestfallen face at Kostos' harsh words. Served the witch right.

"Is it true that Ms. Greengrass had you believe that Scorpius Malfoy was in her care?"

"Yes."

"And is it true that after the two of you were married Astoria planned on moving her son to Greece with her to live with you?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that you were looking to have your own children with Astoria?"

"Yes, and it was important to me that the mother of my children be a good mother, as well as a pureblood. Not only was I attracted to Astoria because she is beautiful and pureblooded, but she had also proved to be able to carry a pureblooded child to term."

"And what would Astoria gain upon marriage to you?"

"She would have received complete access to my monetary assets and her own vacation home upon the delivery of our first child." Kostos replied.

Blaise whistled, "That's quite the motive. Tell me…would you have been interested in marrying Astoria if you had known that she had willingly given up custody of her son to her ex-husband?"

"Objection! It was confirmed that she was temporarily insane." Alejandro, the Spanish lawyer, yelled.

"Sustained."

"Let me rephrase that: would you have been interested if you had known Astoria did not have custody of her son for whatever reason?"

Kostos shook his head, "No. I made it very clear from the beginning that I wanted a very involved and loving Mother for my children. A woman not having custody of her own child, in my mind, does not fit those qualities."

"Thank you, that's all I needed." Blaise smiled.

"Do you have anything to add, Mr. Rodriguez?"

Astoria's lawyer, the charming Spaniard, looked completely defeated. "No."

Blaise exchanged a grin with Draco and fist bumped him under the table. They had this in the bag.

"Alright, those in favor of taking Scorpius Malfoy out of his Father's care and awarding full custody to his Mother please raise your hands."

Not one of the officials raised their hand. However, even if they had somehow awarded custody to Astoria she would have given it right back given her chances with Kostos were shot. Draco grinned at the thought. Not only would Astoria not be able to get near his son ever again, but she would black listed amongst all the rich pureblooded families in the world.

"Alright, custody of Scorpius Malfoy remains with his Father, Draco Malfoy . Astoria Greengrass is to have no contact with Scorpius Malfoy unless given the permission of Draco Malfoy. The courtroom is dismissed."

Hermione ran into Draco's arms as soon as he cleared the table he had been sitting behind for three hours. It was getting harder and harder to hold her tight with her pregnant belly, but when he could feel their daughter kicking he had no objections to not being able to hold Hermione as close as he would have liked. And little Madeline was kicking, indeed; she was just excited as his wife was at the news.

"We won!" Hermione grinned. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"It means we never have to deal with Astoria again and that you are Scorpius' real Mother."

Xxx

After a celebratory dinner with Harold, Blaise, and Pansy, Hermione and Draco had gone to the Burrow to pick of the children and to share the happy news with the Weasleys. Molly had been overjoyed and had completely shocked Draco by pulling him in for a hug. It had been strange at first, but after a moment or two he had actually enjoyed it.

When the two of them arrived at home with the children in tow, they found his Mother waiting for them with a huge smile on her face.

"I heard the news! Why didn't you tell me the trial was today, Draco? I would have come." Narcissa said with her hands planted on her hips.

"I didn't want you to worry about it." Draco replied.

"Not worry about the fate of my grandson?"

Draco was saved from having to grovel by his children, who decided to attack their Grandmother with hugs. Narcissa effectively turned to goo at having two little sets of arms wrapped around her legs and paid Draco no attention as he slipped out of the room. Instead, he decided to follow Hermione upstairs where she had gone after a brief greeting to Narcissa.

When Draco found her she was standing shirtless in front of the bathroom mirror, examining her belly. Her fingers ran over her stretch marks lightly. She had had them before and hadn't paid them much attention, but with this pregnancy she seemed to be more sensitive about her appearance than she ever had been when she was pregnant with Rose.

"You are beautiful." Draco stated as he walked up behind her, placed his hands on her hips, and placed a kiss on her shoulder.

"For some reason I'm more sensitive about how I look than I was with Rose." Hermione sighed.

"Pregnancies are different. You've said that yourself a thousand times." Draco replied. "Are you tired? Lie down. Mother is with the children and I can easily whip something up for the two of them to eat while you take a nap."

"I don't want your Mother to think I'm ignoring her, but I could use a nap."

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of Mother and the children tonight. You take care of yourself and Maddie."

Hermione smiled and turned around in Draco's arms to place a quick kiss on Draco's lips. Before he could deepen the exchange, Hermione pulled out of his arms and headed towards their bed, pulling on her sleep shirt as she did so.

When Draco returned downstairs his Mother was in the kitchen with the children, making them sandwiches the way she always had with him: With a wave of her wand and with lots of giggles at all the objects moving of their own accord in the air before them.

"Thank you, Mother." Draco smiled.

"You're welcome, dear. I'm making one for you and Hermione as well."

"Hermione is napping, but we can put it in the fridge for her. She doesn't want you to think she's ignoring you, but-"

"Say no more, Draco. She is seven months pregnant, I completely understand. In fact, why don't you take care of her tonight and I'll take the children home with me for a sleepover?"

"Sleepover!" Rose yelled excitedly.

Narcissa smiled and turned her attention to Rose and Scorpius, "Do you two want to come spend the night with Nana Narcissa?"

"Yes! Yes!" They chorused.

"Can we, Daddy?" Rose asked sweetly.

Draco's heart melted at that, "Of course you can."

"Alright Rose, after you and Scorpius finish your dinner go upstairs and pack the things you'll need for tonight. Rose, you'll have to help Scorpius."

"Okay, Nana."

A minute later the children sprinted up the stairs, leaving Draco alone with his Mother.

"She calls you Dad now."

"Yes, and Scorpius calls Hermione Mom."

Narcissa smiled, "I'm glad. You guys are truly a family now."

"I won't let Rose forget about her real father, though, Mother."

"Of course not." Narcissa nodded. "But as far as I'm concerned, Scorpius doesn't have to know about Astoria ever."

Draco nodded his head in agreement, "There will be a time when we'll have to sit down and tell him that Hermione is not his biological Mother, but we have a while before that time comes."

Xxx

After his Mother left with the children, Draco headed back upstairs with Hermione's sandwich. She was stretching when he entered the room and her eyes lit up when she saw that Draco had food for her.

"My Mother took the children for the night." Draco stated as he handed the plate over to Hermione.

Hermione took a bite of the sandwich, "Really?"

"Yes. We have the house to ourselves." Draco grinned. "So eat up, because I have plans for you that require you have some energy."

"Do you really, Mr. Malfoy?"

"If you're not too tired."

"I had a nice nap."

"Good."


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own!**

**Okay, this is the last chapter of the story. I wanted to get this done before I get into finals week and Graduation. Even after that is over, I'm going to be busy with Holiday things and cleaning out my room to fit all of my school crap. So, please excuse any errors I missed in my one proof reading of this chapter: I wanted to get this to you guys immediately! Thanks to all of you who have stuck with this story to the end, your reviews, alerts, and favorites kept me going!  
**

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**Wednesday September 19, 2007**

"Happy Birthday, Hermione."

Hermione opened her eyes to see Harry and Ginny smiling down at her. She was disoriented for a moment, wondering why her friends were in her bedroom, until she registered the soreness coming from in between her legs. Oh yes, she was in a hospital room. With that realization Hermione took in her surroundings. Draco sat in the chair next to the bed looking completely disheveled and peacefully asleep. On the other side of the bed sat a bassinet that contained the sleeping figure of their newborn daughter.

"We hear you had quite the night." Ginny whispered with a smile.

Hermione nodded her head in agreement, "Are Rose and Scorpius alright?"

Harry nodded, "They're at the Burrow right now. Molly should be bringing them in later. We wanted to be the first to congratulate you and wish you a Happy Birthday."

Hermione smiled, "Thank you."

"We brought you a gift." Ginny said as she held out a wrapped present.

"No offense, but having a baby on my birthday is pretty hard to top, Ginny." Hermione smiled as she accepted the gift. Upon unwrapping it she found a bracelet with three charms engraved with each of the children's names.

"I love it you guys. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now we'll leave the three of you to rest, you guys had quite an exciting night."

As the Potters left the hospital room Hermione had to agree that the night before had been pretty eventful. She and Draco had certainly not been expecting Madeline to make an appearance for at least another week, but Hermione had received a birthday surprise.

**_Tuesday September 18, 2007_**

_"So, what would you like to do tomorrow for your birthday?" Draco asked as he slid into bed beside her._

_Hermione let out a sigh, "I obviously cannot do much."_

_Draco smiled, "That doesn't mean you can't have a good time. The kids want to help me bake you a cake."_

_"And wreck my kitchen?"_

_"Hey! We could manage it!"_

_Hermione chuckled, "It would be entertaining for me to watch you try to bake a cake with two little kids more interested in playing with the ingredients than adding them to the mixture."_

_Hermione had learned that lesson personally only a few weeks ago when she had been craving chocolate cake. Of course, both Rose and Scorpius had wanted to help and she certainly couldn't refuse them when they blinked up at her with those eyes of theirs. After only ten minutes the three of them had been covered in flour and the floor had been littered with broken eggs. _

_"Hmm, maybe I should just give you your present tonight." Draco stated thoughtfully._

_Hermione watched as he reached into the drawer in his nightstand and pulled out a small black box. Her heart skipped a beat as any woman's would at the sight of a small black box. Sure enough, when Draco turned back to her with a smile, he opened the box to reveal a diamond ring._

_"I figured it was about time I give you one of these." Draco grinned. "I love you Hermione, and though our marriage was not founded upon that, I want the rest of our marriage to be. So, will you consent to be my wife for the rest of our lives? Will you go through a bonding ceremony with me?"_

_"Really?" Hermione asked in shock. "You want to be bonded for life like Blaise and Pansy?"_

_Draco chuckled, "Yes, but I'm going to be fully aware that I am doing so."_

_"Well, my answer is yes." Hermione replied confidently as she held out her left hand. Draco grinned and slid the diamond ring on her finger to join the band he had given her at their marriage ceremony all those months ago._

_After a moment of staring at the rings on her finger the two of them looked into each other's eyes before moving in to connect their lips. As their lips connected the baby kicked, startling both Hermione and Draco, as he was pressed against Hermione's swollen belly._

_"It seems our daughter is happy with the turn of events." Draco smiled._

_Hermione nodded her agreement and caught Draco's lips with hers once again. This time the baby did not interrupt and the two settled down to sleep holding each other close._

_Xxx_

_Around midnight Hermione was startled awake by an aching in her back that she recognized all too well. Sure enough, that pain only grew into the familiar pain of contractions that she had seemingly forgotten about from Rose's birth. _

_"Draco." Hermione hissed, with a hand clutched to her lower back._

_"Hmm what?" Draco mumbled, his eyes still closed._

_"I'm in labor."_

_"Hmm… that's nice."_

_"Draco, I am having our baby tonight!"_

_"Wait…what?" He asked, finally opening his eyes and starting to wake up._

_"Madeline has decided she wants me to have pain on my birthday."_

_Draco's eyes widened, "She's coming? Are you sure?"_

_"I'm pretty sure what I'm feeling are contractions, Draco. I've done this before."_

_"Okay."_

_Hermione watched as Draco processed the information he had been given and sorted out what needed to be done next. In the next moment he was up like a rocket, throwing on clothes, and grabbing Hermione's bag from the closet that they had prepared only a week ago. Then, he was off to the fireplace throwing in floo powder to his mother and then to the Burrow. Before Hermione knew what was happening Narcissa and Molly had arrived via floo network._

_"The baby is coming?!" Narcissa asked excitedly as she rushed to Hermione on the bed._

_"Yes, mother. Get Hermione ready to go to the hospital while I get the children ready to go to the Burrow with Mrs. Weasley." Draco replied, already headed towards the door with Molly following behind him._

_Once the two of them were gone, Narcissa helped Hermione out of bed and went in search for clothes she could wear to the hospital. While she was across the room gathering the warm up suit Hermione had picked for the occasion, Hermione's water broke, starling both of the women in the room._

_"Merlin! It's happening." Hermione groaned._

_"Draco!" Narcissa yelled. "Hermione's water has broken!"_

_In the time it took Draco to run from the living room fire place where he had seen Molly and the children off to their bedroom, Narcissa had already helped Hermione change and both stood ready to go to the hospital._

_"Don't just stand there and gawk at the puddle, Draco. I'm sure Hermione would prefer to have the baby at the hospital with potions than here at home."_

_"Yes, what she said, Draco. Let's go." Hermione forced out as another contraction hit her._

_What happened after that seemed to blur together. Madeline had come into the world without much difficulty at 3:05 the morning of September 19__th__, making the two of them birthday buddies. Draco had tried to hide his tears at the sight of his newborn daughter, but Hermione had seen them and smiled through her own tears of joy._

Xxx

**Wednesday September 19, 2007**

"Rough night?" Hermione asked with a grin as Draco woke up in the chair beside her bed.

"You could say that. Though I'm sure it was worse for you."

"It was worth it." Hermione smiled with a glance at the bassinet.

Draco beamed and quickly stood up to make his way over to the bassinet. He could not get enough of the sight of his newborn daughter. He had never seen Scorpius this young. He had never before experienced a child coming into this world and, though it was graphic, it was beautiful because it was his own flesh and blood. And he was pretty sure nothing could ever compare to the feeling he had when he had held her in his arms for the first time.

"I can't wait to see who she looks like." Draco smiled. "Mother thinks she takes after you with the dark hair and dark eyes, but Healer Watson assured me that those can change over time."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "I don't care who she looks like as long as she doesn't have my ghastly, unruly hair. Rose was spared that, thankfully."

"Your hair isn't that bad, Granger."

"That's because I have products to tame it, Malfoy."

The two stared at each other for a moment before laughing. They hadn't called each other by their last names in a while and it felt good. It was a part of who they were. Of course, it would cause confusion for the children.

"Do you want to hold her?" Draco asked as he moved to pick Madeline up from her position in the bassinet.

"Of course! I barely got a chance to hold her last night before I fell asleep!"

Hermione watched as Draco tenderly picked their daughter up and cradled her in his arms for a moment before carefully transferring her into Hermione's arms. As she settled Madeline in, her eyes opened and she stared up at her Mother wide eyed.

"I know, darling, I must look horrid right now." Hermione chuckled. "I promise Mummy doesn't look this scary normally."

Draco laughed from his position next to the bed, "You look beautiful, Hermione."

"Thank you, Draco, but I just gave birth to a baby, so I do not look the greatest right now."

"Excuse me for sounding cheesy, but the fact that you gave birth to my baby is what makes you beautiful to me."

Hermione smiled, "That does sound pretty cheesy."

"Is Draco being sentimental?" Blaise asked from the doorway.

Hermione and Draco looked up to see Blaise and Pansy in the doorway with an arrangement of pink roses.

"We wanted to come see the newest edition to the Malfoy family." Pansy smiled as she and Blaise entered the room. As Blaise set down the flowers, Pansy immediately moved to the side of the bed to get a look at Madeline.

"She is precious, Hermione."

"Thank you, Pansy."

Blaise moved closer as well to get a better look at the baby. "Beautiful, Hermione, simply beautiful. Brilliant work, mate." He finished with a slap on the back to Draco.

"Should we tell them our news?"

"Don't tell me that you're expecting a baby?" Draco groaned.

"Actually, we are." Blaise nodded.

"What?!"

"Happened in Greece."

"What about your year trial?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Pansy and Blaise shared a look, "I think we're okay with being bonded for life."

"Speaking of which, Hermione agreed to a bonding ceremony for the two of us last night." Draco grinned. "We had such an exciting night, I almost forgot!"

"Me too! Obviously we'll have to wait a bit."

"Brilliant! Congratulations you guys. On the baby and that as well!" Blaise smiled.

"You too. I can't wait to see your face when you change your kid's nappy for the first time." Draco smirked.

"I wouldn't be so smug, Draco. Madeline could use a change right now." Hermione stated with a look that clearly stated he would be the one doing it.

Blaise grinned, "We'll leave you to it then, mate."

**Eleven Years Later**

** Saturday September 1, 2018**

Today was a bittersweet day to be sure for Draco and Hermione. Today they would be sending all three of their children off on the Hogwarts Express. It had already been eleven years since Madeline had been born and the two of them had gone through with the bonding ceremony. Since then they had enjoyed a peaceful, simple life, full of love and laughter with their children.

Hermione could sense that Madeline was very nervous despite the brave face she put on for her older siblings. For the last three months Rose and Scorpius had talked about how much fun she would have at school and how different it was to be away from home for months at a time without Mom and Dad around. However, the eleven year old wasn't so sure how she felt about not having her Mom and Dad around. Madeline enjoyed the nights she spent with her Father on his lap reading the paper with him and the days when her Mother took her into the office with her to help sort her files of law cases.

The only comfort she had was that her best friend, Katarina Zabini, would be at Hogwarts next year with her. Until then, all she had were her brother and sister. However, that wasn't much of a consolation given their ages. Rose had blossomed into a beautiful sixteen year old. In fact, both Draco and her Uncle Harry spent loads of time worrying about her and the troupe of boys she had drooling after her. Thankfully, she had her Mother's brains and didn't seem to have time for boys outside of her studies. As a Ravenclaw, she was very involved with her schoolwork, and that was something Draco was thankful for every day.

As for Scorpius, he was fifteen years old, and was already quite infamous in the Slytherin house for being a ladie's man. Madeline was sure that he would have no time for her given all the girls she spotted staring at him at the train station. She could understand why, though. Her brother was rather handsome. Her Mother often said he was a spitting image of their Dad at that age, and judging from how handsome her Father was now…things with girls were only going to get worse.

"Don't look so worried, sweetheart, you're going to be fine." Hermione whispered down to her daughter, who gripped her hand tightly.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to make any friends and be all alone because Rose and Scorp are too busy for me!"

Draco, who had been lecturing Scorpius on the importance of contraception, happened to overhear his daughter's worries and abandoned his lecture to turn and kneel down to her level.

"You are going to make loads of friends, Madeline." He assured her with a smile. "And if your brother and sister ignore you, tell me and I will take care of them personally."

Rose rushed over at those words, "We're not going to ignore you, Mads! You're our sister! Right, Scorp?"

"Of course." Scorpius grinned. "If you have school and friend problems go to Rose. If you have problems with bullies and boys come to me: I'll take care of them."

"Scorpius." Hermione scolded.

"What Mum? I will. No one picks on Mads, but us."

"Oh, that's such a lovely sentiment." Draco rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you'll be fine. Tonight you will be sorted into a house and I'm sure you'll make friends in whatever house you're in. And remember: We don't care what house you are sorted into. Although, I do hope it is not Hufflepuff."

"Draco!"

"Come on, Granger, you know you don't want your daughter to be in Hufflepuff. Anything but that." Draco smirked and exchanged a high five with his son.

"You two are insufferable." Hermione huffed before turning to Madeline. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with being in Hufflepuff, Madeline. Your father and brother are being idiots."

The two Malfoy males were cut off from their protestations by the train whistle.

"Well, this is it, Mads." Draco sighed as he stared down at his baby girl.

Eleven years had passed too quickly.

"I love you, Dad." Madeline smiled before throwing her arms around Draco.

Draco felt his eyes start to water, but held it together in case anyone happened to be watching. It just wouldn't do to have people see Draco Malfoy crying over sending his daughter off to Hogwarts for the first time.

However, Hermione didn't make any effort to conceal her tears. As Madeline turned to hug her Mother, Hermione enfolded her in her arms and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Okay, Mom, let go of her now, we need to go." Rose stated, pulling Hermione away from Madeline.

After the older children made their goodbyes to their parents, they led their little sister to the train and Hermione and Draco watched as their three children disappeared inside.

The two of them stood there in silence until the train pulled out of the station. Then, once the scarlet engine had completely disappeared they turned to each other with shaky smiles.

"How do you think our marriage will do without children running around?" Draco asked curiously.

"I think it's going to be nice once we get used to it." Hermione replied.

"Yeah, like having sex whenever and wherever we want. I'm looking forward to that the most."

Hermione smacked his arm, "Of course you are. However, what if I told you that we aren't completely childless?"

"What?! Are you pregnant!?"

Hermione started laughing, "Just thought I would test you. No, I'm not pregnant. We decided years ago that three children were more than enough for us, remember?"

"Yes, I do. That's why you had me in a panic there with that little joke."

Hermione smiled, "I think we have done a rather good job considering how everything came together."

"Yes, we did, Granger. We did, indeed."

Later that evening, after a lovely evening without the children, Madeline's new owl arrived with a letter tied to its leg. The couple exchanged a look before Hermione reached out and took the letter. Then after sitting down, the couple read the letter from their youngest together.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_First of all, let me say that I was not sorted into Hufflepuff. However, I met a girl on the train who was a Hufflepuff and rather nice, so I'm going to ignore what you said about them, Dad. Anyway, Mum you will be happy to know that I was sorted into Gryffindor! The sorting hat was amazed that I was a child of both Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. In fact, at first he thought he would put me in Slytherin simply because my last name was Malfoy. However, then he realized that Hermione Granger was my Mother and started to reconsider his decision. Finally, he decided on Gryffindor. Not only because he said I had the courage and strength of character, but because he wanted to make history by sorting a half blooded Malfoy into Gryffindor house!_

_I love the tower, Mum! And I have already made friends with two girls in my year in our dorms! Plus, I'm already infamous for being Rose and Scorpius' little sister! All the girls want me to introduce them to Scorp and all the boys want me to introduce them to Rose! I won' t though._

_Well, I better be off to bed now. I'll write you after the first week of classes are over._

_Love,_

_Madeline_

The End


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